Pro-choicers and anti-vaxers both argue that “it’s my body.”

Pro-lifers and vax police both argue that your body autonomy is limited by its affect on others.

President Joe Biden and progressives/liberals/Democrats argue that Americans must get a Covid-19 vaccination because, “No one has the right to infect others with a potentially deadly illness.”

Meanwhile, anti-vaxers who refuse to get the shot because “it’s my body” fail to take into account that the health of other people is involved. “It’s your moral responsibility to get vaccinated,” as vaccinated mandate proponents argue. You jeopardize other lives if you refuse to get vaccinated.

That’s the same argument that pro-choice advocates make: Abortion is the woman’s choice because “it’s her body.” Her autonomy is so sacred, so absolute, it blots out a (fetus’)(pre-born person’s) right to life.

The argument that bodily autonomy is absolute always struck me as unreal, seeing as how the government took over control of my body. In a process called “the military draft.” the government chose without my input to me make me drag my body out of the rack at 5:30 every morning, pick my wardrobe and send me into combat, where I would get killed or maimed.

(A side note: Of course the draft always exempted women and still doesn’t require women register for it.)

The draft was justified because the common good (i.e. national security) overrode my claim of absolute bodily autonomy. I owed it to my country.

So, can’t a women’s right to chose be modified by other rights, such as the right to life of the fetus? Isn’t there a broader societal interest in protecting life as some point during the pregnancy. That’s a principle that Roe v. Wade established. Surprised?

Thus, vax mandators should logically support the pro-life position, because both argue that some rights can be limited when it comes to your body. And anti-vexers, to be consistent, should find themselves on the pro-choice side because the right to control their bodies outweighs their obligation to anyone else.

I’m be instructed that the two things are different: Invading a woman’s body is not the same as getting a shot in your arm. That’s right. But there’s this: An abortion, especially a late-term one, kills an individual, while refusing to get a vaccination has an iffy impact on other people. That’s because there’s no certainty that every unvaccinated person will spread the disease. But there’s certainty that an abortion kills an individual.

The issue obviously cuts across party and ideological lines. This argument could go on forever. I’m just saying, be careful about where your argument leads you. Hypocrisy may await.

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