“The only purpose for which power can be rightfully
exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to
prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a
sufficient warrant… Over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.”
The above principle laid down by John Stuart Mill is a
cornerstone of liberal political and jurisprudential thought. Mill argued that,
provided you cause no harm to others, you should be free to do what you like
with your own body and life. This is what the right to personal autonomy and
self-determination means; and it is a right which is being steadily, and
quietly, eroded. If liberty, as Mill said, consists in the freedom to do
everything which injures no one else, then we are already not free – and if the
current trend of legislating on public health and morals continues the residual
liberty we do enjoy will be diminished.
