@freemo Oh buddy, this is where it gets hairy for me!
I do NOT think bodily autonomy is always sacred, particularly under certain circumstances, and there would be plenty you would likely agree with.
A few examples come to mind immediately:
Should individuals who put dramatically more strain on a healthcare system due to their own choices receive equal care (or equally priced care) as compared to those who don’t? A personal example for me is obesity: I am obese (but I’m down 20lbs so far!!) as is my whole family, and perhaps if it was just us, it would be fine. But since ~40% of American adults (and a great many other countries as well, actually) are obese, diabetic, and have multiple chronic health issues, they disproportionately strain the healthcare system. So the question is: should people be allowed to “exercise their bodily autonomy” to balloon up to 600+lbs while expecting public programs to cover for them (SS/MC), or should people be forced to get preventative treatment to mitigate the far-reaching repercussions of their own self-destructive behaviors?
As a follow up to the prior one: replace Covid with highly transmissible “rabies” that has a 50% fatality rate without vaccination and 0.25% for vaccinated individuals. Does this warrant forced vaccinations to prevent the decimation of the populace and civilization as we know it? Should parents be allowed to prevent their kids from receiving the vaccine (as many have with Covid) or would this be considered child endangerment? If we value life and criminalize acts like Russian roulette (technically exercising autonomy here too), shouldn’t roulette with a virus be equally criminal?
A less extreme example: I take a loan from you and choose not to work to pay it back, and I’m broke so even if you sue me you get nothing. Should you not be allowed to force me (via a court order/legal paths, obviously not kidnapping lol) to work the losses off?
Long story short for my take: bodily autonomy is sacred when it doesn’t infringe on the rights and protected privileges of those around you, and when it doesn’t prevent you from fulfilling your moral obligations and duties. Once any of those lines are crossed, that autonomy goes out the window, and depending on laws/public benefits that you take advantage of, I think this necessarily further constrains bodily autonomy or the system would collapse.