note: This post is kind of rambling and my thoughts aren’t fully formed at the beginning of it.
People should definitely be able to get tubal ligations and vasectomies even if they don’t have kids. One reason I believe this is because of a variety of feelings I have about the ethics of having children in the first place. But there’s also of course the bodily autonomy argument, that I fully agree with.
But I don’t have a good grasp on why I agree with it? Or rather, I understand why people feel weird about it: It’s hard (impossible?) to have your future self consent to a thing like that. Of course your present self’s decision matters, and I guess matters more. But more generally the issue of how to balance present consent with future consent is very confusing to me. There are some cases where it’s widely agreed that present consent doesn’t imply future consent (like sex). But there are other places where it’s widely agreed that present consent does imply future consent (like in contracts or rental agreements). And actually I disagree about the situation in rental agreements/contracts and I think it’s used by people in power to coerce those in less power. But anyway those situations are very different from surgeries!
Actually, thinking about it now, I have no real qualms about it: Your present self’s consent generally trumps your future self’s consent. (Exceptions include stuff like if you’re a kid or otherwise incapable of understanding the situation.) Still, I think there are some things that everyone should think about here.
anyway doctors are full of shit because they’re not even consistent on this issue and refusing to do what the patient wishes in these case can cause very real harm and imo violates the Hippocratic oath.