Forced or coerced medical treatments for any reason are ethically wrong. This includes things like forcing people to wear masks, forcing people to be medically tested, or forcing people to take vaccines. There are many reasons why a person might want to refuse medical treatment and while we may agree or disagree with those reasons, we have to respect the fact that people own themselves and are the sole authority when it comes to deciding what medical treatments they consent to.
Murray Rothbard summarizes his argument for self-ownership rights in chapter 8 of his book The Ethics of Liberty:
"Here there are two alternatives: either we may lay down a rule that each man should be permitted (i.e., have the right to) the full ownership of his own body, or we may rule that he may not have such complete ownership. If he does, then we have the libertarian natural law for a free society as treated above. But if he does not, if each man is not entitled to full and 100 percent self-ownership, then what does this imply? It implies either one of two conditions: (1) the "communist" one of Universal and Equal Other-ownership, or (2) Partial Ownership of One Group by Another—a system of rule by one class over another. These are the only logical alternatives to a state of 100 percent self-ownership for all."
Only an individual has access to all of the information necessary to determine if a risk is worth taking or not. A person who's relative is dying in an old age home, for example, may be willing to tolerate a higher risk of infection than someone who is not in that situation. It is not possible for central planners to make decisions for individuals that are any better than the decisions that individuals can make for themselves because good decisions require this detailed knowledge of each person's individual circumstances and preferences.
Doug Ford and his "progressive conservatives" can provide general advice, scientific data, and suggestions to those who voluntarily choose to follow their leadership. But they cannot force or coerce a person to undertake any sort of medical treatment.
We therefore call upon Doug Ford to make all medical treatments voluntary and respect the right of Ontarians to own their own lives and bodies.
