By Arnold Kling

While informed consent and respect for autonomy govern how health care practitioners interact with their patients, this new ethos is absent when it comes to the government asserting authority over adults’ health decisions. The government dictates what kinds of health professionals adults may consult. It determines what medicines adults may purchase and under which circumstances they may consume them. It bans adults from ingesting substances or engaging in activities that the government decides are unhealthful, regardless of individual risk-benefit priorities. I want to point out roads leading to a future where the government respects the autonomy and rights of all adults. –Jeffrey A. Singer, Your Body, Your Health Care, (pages 2-3)

Jeffrey A. Singer, a physician, argues for deregulation in health care to empower individuals to make their own health care decisions. His book’s title, Your Body, Your Health Care, harkens back—consciously or otherwise—to a 1970 volume Our Bodies, Our Selves, which was dedicated to female empowerment in that era’s feminist movement. While not focused on healthcare alone, the popular book radically shifted the conversation around women’s health, empowering women to understand, manage, and advocate for their own bodies and medical care.

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