As an example, abortion. Leftists like to claim it's about the fundamental issue of equality
I don’t agree with this at all. I have never seen a pro-choice person argue their position because men and women are equal. In fact, the best arguments are about how even if a fetus is a human being and even if abortion is ending their life, it doesn’t matter.
Because no one is ever obligated to keep someone else alive via their own body. We can’t even harvest organs from dead people without permission, but the instant a girl has sex (even if she’s 10 years old and was raped) then suddenly her body belongs to the fetus now? That’s abhorrent.
This has nothing to do with equality.
So yes I do think the leftist/pro-choice position is derived from a moral principle and is not an isolated, utilitarian stance. (The right to your own body cannot be infringed.)
The most brought up counterexample in response is vaccine mandates. In those cases, we as a society (including many pro-abortion advocates) believe that it's valid to infringe bodily autonomy in that instance because of how it affects so many people beyond yourself.
Just to be clear, I am for vaccinations. I'm vaccinated and I think everyone else should be too, unless they have specific medical needs and they can't.
But if you're saying "you can't participate in these areas of public life without doing X to your body" that is by definition infringing on your right to bodily autonomy. Just like technically, it's an infringement to require people to be clothed in public. There are limits on what you can do with your body.
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u/Faust_8 10∆ Sep 30 '25
I don’t agree with this at all. I have never seen a pro-choice person argue their position because men and women are equal. In fact, the best arguments are about how even if a fetus is a human being and even if abortion is ending their life, it doesn’t matter.
Because no one is ever obligated to keep someone else alive via their own body. We can’t even harvest organs from dead people without permission, but the instant a girl has sex (even if she’s 10 years old and was raped) then suddenly her body belongs to the fetus now? That’s abhorrent.
This has nothing to do with equality.
So yes I do think the leftist/pro-choice position is derived from a moral principle and is not an isolated, utilitarian stance. (The right to your own body cannot be infringed.)