Pro or cons of personal freedom such as public smoking or talking on the phone while drving - Essay Example

In the U.S., laws preventing gambling and gay marriage fall into this category as well. There is, of course, a line drawn within this opinion regarding laws that include children. Consensual adults, however, should be free to choose how to live their lives as they please if it does not interfere with the personal welfare or property of others. Denying personal freedom is often justified and accepted as necessary but in the greater scope of human endeavour the acceptance of these ‘no harm’ laws leads the public to accept other such laws which slowly but steadily lead to further reductions of free will decisions by free peoples.

The country was founded by people who believed this concept and wrote the Constitution to forever protect personal freedoms. This discussion will examine the history of how the concept of guaranteed personal freedoms became an American invention and offers a constitutional analysis of two hotly debated issues, euthanasia and abortion. To what extent personal freedom should be permitted is not the issue. Personal freedoms are an American birthright that is slowly but surely eroding over time.

Whether or not the American people have the courage to protect and restore these freedoms is the real issue. The Founding Fathers displayed courage when they broke away from a tyrannical, oppressive King of England who ruled over the most powerful military at that time to establish a country where personal autonomy was considered the most precious commodity in a society. The seeds of the Founders’ concept of law and freedom emanated from Britain. The Constitution was inspired by the Magna Charta and British philosopher John Locke helped to lay the foundation for the Founders’ deep belief in personal freedoms.

Locke defined each individual as having the right to “life, liberty and estate” (Locke, 1960 p. 448). These words have an almost identical mirror in the beginning paragraphs of the