I was rewatching the TV show Superman & Lois. In that show, Clark and Lois have twin boys who are 16. Their son Jonathan Kent was taking an illegal super drug called “X-Kryptonite”, and Lois and Clark blew up at him. I wonder if they have this energy for abortion because I know damn well Clark and Lois are pro-choice.
So I hate how they violated Jon’s autonomy.
and this applies to real life too; “my body, my choice” should apply to drug use too.
When you deny someone an abortion, you’re denying them healthcare.
When a parent denies their underage child, with a brain that is still developing, hard drugs I think that is appropriate parenting. Taking hard drugs probably has limited social or medical benefit, if any.
So when a parent denies their underage child drugs they are essentially protecting them (from themselves) whereas if they deny an abortion they are taking away a future, if you consider the fully formed person autonomous.
Not really comparable if you scratch beyond the surface.
Drugs people use illegally have overlap with drugs prescribed as medicine, like amphetamines for adhd and opioids for pain management. Who gets to decide what is healthcare on behalf of the individual? Doctors, parents, governments, insurance companies? There is a lot of room between them to get it wrong. In all of these cases authorities are claiming to be protecting people from making what they say is the wrong choice. Of course it is in some cases, and parents probably should be pressuring their children not to take dangerous drugs, especially for reasons that are not healthcare. But if there are authorities that deny that something is healthcare, and that’s contested, “my body, my choice” is a slogan that implies it should be the individual that decides.
I am “pro-choice” with anything as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else (but you). From my skin inwards is my total jurisdiction; it was JONATHAN’S BODY. Not Clark, not Lois. If Jon wants to inhale an alien space narcotic or snort cocaine, that should be his right.
Again Clark and Lois violated Jonathan’s autonomy, and that was wrong, especially for Superman, who stands for “humans having free will”, and Lois Lane, a woman who worked her way up in a male-dominated environment and who fights for “truth and justice”.
Also, it’s just bad writing because Superman should have better things to do than whine and complain about how his son, who doesn’t even have powers at the time, is taking an illegal drug. Big fucking whoop.
I’m curious, do you think parents should stop a two-year-old from swallowing LEGO blocks, which they could choke on? The two-year-old is making a choice that they want the LEGO block in their throat. However, they don’t understand that it can kill them.
From the perspective of the parents of a teenager, it is their job to protect their child from dangers the child may not fully understand. I think the teenager can be reasoned with and it can be explained to them why they shouldn’t do drugs and then they can make an informed choice, but it is debatable how much a teenager can be trusted to make a responsible decision.
Also, aren’t you the one who wants grown adults to be protected from dating people older than them? But you think teenagers are old enough to make decisions about mind-altering substances and their parents should leave them alone regarding that and almost everything else?