On the Child's Right to Bodily Integrity: When Is the Right Infringed?

Area of Science:

• Bioethics
• Child Rights Philosophy
• Medical Ethics

Background:

• The concept of bodily integrity is crucial for both children and adults.
• Existing ethical frameworks struggle to adequately address interventions in children's bodies.
• Two main philosophical approaches, encroachment and best-interests, are debated.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare and evaluate two competing conceptions of the pre-autonomous child's right to bodily integrity.
• To determine which conception offers a more plausible ethical framework for child welfare.
• To analyze the implications of each conception for medical interventions and moral distinctions.

Main Methods:

• Philosophical argumentation and conceptual analysis.
• Comparison of ethical implications of two distinct theoretical frameworks.
• Examination of consistency with established principles of adult bodily integrity.

Main Results:

• Best-interests conceptions are argued to be more plausible than encroachment conceptions.
• Best-interests conceptions better accommodate ethically permissible, non-medically necessary beneficial interventions.
• Best-interests conceptions more effectively distinguish between interventions for self-benefit versus benefit to others.

Conclusions:

• The article advocates for best-interests conceptions as the superior ethical model for child bodily integrity.
• This framework aligns better with moral intuitions regarding beneficial interventions and adult rights.
• Adopting best-interests conceptions provides a more robust ethical foundation for child welfare decisions.