Body

I learned something today. True, I learn something most days, but today I learned that current law doesn't necessarily hold the idea that we own our bodies.

Apparently this thought was codified in 1976. It pertains to discoveries made from donated and excised tissues. Basically the idea is that once something is drawn out or cut off, it becomes the property of whomever it was that did the drawing/cutting or agents acting for another entity. This is basically the reason that medical research and development can move forward.

What an interesting concept. Firstly, as a feminist I can't help but think how this idea can be applied to a woman's right to chose when or if to become a parent. I'll assume that it isn't practical to do so because it hasn't. I haven't read the pertinent court cases lately but I seem to remember that the primary reason a woman is allowed abortion is to guarantee her right to privacy, not because she has right to rule over her own body.

So I guess its time to read some John Locke. I remember him from college classes. I can't believe that something as contemporary as current medical research is governed by law that predates the Constitution. I could understand it as a basis for newer rulings, much as we think back to the Magna Carta as a basis for individual rights and protections, but there has been at least hundreds of cases and interpretations that add to it.

As a consumer this approach makes me afraid.

A few years ago The Onion ran an article explaining that Microsoft had patented 1s and 0s. As far as I know patenting natural processes and genetic information is the closest thing to that spoof.