To: Congress
Autonomy Amendment Now
We propose an amendment to the United States Constitution that would protect the right to bodily autonomy:
The right of the people to autonomy in their bodies shall not be abridged by the United States or by any State.
We ask our congressional representatives to pass a bill to send this amendment to the states for ratification.
The right of the people to autonomy in their bodies shall not be abridged by the United States or by any State.
We ask our congressional representatives to pass a bill to send this amendment to the states for ratification.
Why is this important?
People have a right to control their own bodies, and to have the final say on what happens within them. This right is known as bodily autonomy, or sometimes "body autonomy" or "bodily integrity". This right protects you from:
- Involuntary medical procedures
- Unwanted chemicals in food and drinking water
- Execution by organ removal
- Forced sterilization and forced reproduction
- Being forced to keep your body a certain way when you would like to change it
However, this fundamental right is under threat. It is not explicitly protected in the United States constitution. State and federal governments have infringed upon it in the past.
For example, involuntary sterilization programs, such as those under California's "Asexualization Acts", were popular in the 20th century.
In 1978, a man named David Shrimp was forced to defend against a lawsuit seeking to seize his bone marrow for transplant. While he eventually won the McFall v. Shimp case, the judge called his refusal to allow his body parts to be taken "morally indefensible", and the case could easily have gone the other way.
As late as 2017, it was revealed that a judge in Tennessee had been pressuring inmates into vasectomies or the installation of birth control implants. The judge held those who refused in jail for 30 days longer than those who gave in.
Existing protections for bodily autonomy are based on court precedent, and an interpretation of bodily autonomy as an extension of privacy rights, which are themselves extensions of rights enumerated in the Constitution. These protections are too weak to adequately defend such an important right. They must be strengthened.
- Involuntary medical procedures
- Unwanted chemicals in food and drinking water
- Execution by organ removal
- Forced sterilization and forced reproduction
- Being forced to keep your body a certain way when you would like to change it
However, this fundamental right is under threat. It is not explicitly protected in the United States constitution. State and federal governments have infringed upon it in the past.
For example, involuntary sterilization programs, such as those under California's "Asexualization Acts", were popular in the 20th century.
In 1978, a man named David Shrimp was forced to defend against a lawsuit seeking to seize his bone marrow for transplant. While he eventually won the McFall v. Shimp case, the judge called his refusal to allow his body parts to be taken "morally indefensible", and the case could easily have gone the other way.
As late as 2017, it was revealed that a judge in Tennessee had been pressuring inmates into vasectomies or the installation of birth control implants. The judge held those who refused in jail for 30 days longer than those who gave in.
Existing protections for bodily autonomy are based on court precedent, and an interpretation of bodily autonomy as an extension of privacy rights, which are themselves extensions of rights enumerated in the Constitution. These protections are too weak to adequately defend such an important right. They must be strengthened.