Rough Draft Do We Own Our Body

Grace Mullins
Prof. Koulen
English 1301
25 September 2022
Our Body’s
I never really thought about if I really own my own body, but after reading the intriguing article
“Do we own our Bodies” by Calabresi, Guido I now have a new perspective on the classic “are
we our own individual person'' question… we are not, and throughout the article this is
constantly proven on many accounts . It made me realize how much control the government has
over my body. The article I will be analyzing was based on a lecture Dean Calabresi gave as the
Schroeder Scholar-in- Residence at Case Western Reserve University. In his lecture Calabresi
talks about different scenarios where who owns our body becomes a little grey, like suing your
own family member for not giving you bone marrow (1) or if men could become pregnant
abortion laws would be constitutional(12) or even why is it illegal to sell body parts if you are
willing(10). While you may think you own your body, we don’t truly have autonomy over our
bodies and this is evident when we look at examples of cases of organ donation versus selling
them(10), abortion(7), and conscription( 7)
The article talks about lots of different scenarios where we question if we really do own our
body. The first example given is about a man who needed a bone marrow transplant to survive
and the only suitable donor was his cousin. His cousin however did not feel comfortable
donating the marrow so the man sued for an injunction to order his cousin to give him the bone
marrow. In the end his cousin didn’t give him the marrow and he died but this sparked a
question; was the court correct in its view of the precedent and would it be constitutional for the
state to order us to give our body parts to those who need them? (1) This leads us into the topic
of abortion, in a sense it is similar to the court case because to some extent a woman’s body as
calabresi phrases it; required for life preserving services (7). In a sense the woman is giving up
her body for the child. Another example used is in cases of conscription; we are suddenly forced
to go because all of a sudden our bodies belong to a nation(7). The article moves on to talk less
dramatic examples so that we can find the issue a little easier to understand (17). Would it really
be that objectionable to decide after death our body does not belong to us rather, those in need.
This can go beyond organs, it shows what we are as a society and how we view people as
disposable. (17)
The author, in my opinion, did an excellent job at presenting his argument throughout the article
by using different examples, court cases and laws to shape the main idea that we don’t truly have
autonomy over our bodies; and proves this by giving examples of cases of organ donation versus
selling them(10), abortion(7), conscription(7), and so many more examples. This credible author,
Guido Calabresti is the Dean and Sterling professor of law at Yale university. He is a
distinguished scholar who is considered to be extremely knowledgeable and respected. Calabresi
is an American legal scholar and Senior United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of
Appeals for the Second Circuit. He is a former Dean of Yale Law School, where he has been a
professor since 1959. He uses the three persuasive appeals: Ethos, pathos and logos; firstly he
uses pathos, by making us feel emotion towards his work, hearing that you don’t really on your
body can make you feel angry and upset. For example in this case abrotion strikes a nerve.
When Calabresi talks about abortion describing how forced pregnancy is a life preserving service
(7); I know I speak for many woman when I say this I think about abortion and how upset I feel
when my basic right to a health care procedure is taken away from me. It’s aggravating when
people tell us what we can and cannot do with our bodies and we tend not to take it lightly. He
appeals to logos; the logical side of things when he talks about how things don’t really make
sense when it comes to what is deemed constitutional or unconstitutional or even what is right or
wrong, such as self mutilation was once illegal and frowned upon but organ donation before
death wasn’t (10) or how you can sell your plasma and hair but not your kidneys (15) .Calabresi
appeals to ethos because of his high credibility, being a respected professor and scholar. So we
know what he talks about is accurate and a trusted source when it comes to this topic.
Evidently the main idea of this article is not only about not having ownership of your own body
but really what kind of society we are, how we are all in a sense deemed as “disposable”(17).
This article contributes to a bigger picture of the type of world we live in. This article even goes
further and could tie into things such as prostitution, drug usage, laws surrounding personal
safety and even vaccines. Through the use of the three persuasive appeals, his anecdotes and
even his expert opinion Calabresi was able to formulate a strong argument on do we really own
our bodies and how in a way we can be “scapegoats for the government”(18). By using examples
such as cases of organ donation versus selling them, abortion, and conscription he was able to
prove his point. Even though at first it can seem like a silly and obvious question, the fact of the
matter is it’s not as easy to answer as you probably thought. “So do we own our own body?”(18)
Work cited : Calabresi, Guido. “Do We Own Our Bodies?” Health Matrix, vol 1:5, 1991.
https://openyls.law.yale.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.13051/1295/Do_We_Own_Our_Bo
dies.pdf?sequence=2

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Grace Mullins

them(10), abortion(7), and conscription( 7)

distinguished scholar who is considered to be extremely knowledgeable and respected. Calabresi

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