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Art 8, ECHR – The right to a private life suggests the freedom to live as one chooses.
In X and Y v Netherlands, the right to a private life was held to cover and protect the physical integrity of the person.
The right will be subject to limitations eg. The interest of society in preserving life, a balance must be sought in each case.
"The human faculties of perception, judgment, discriminative feeling, mental activity, and even moral preference, are exercised only in making a choice... the mental and moral, like the muscular powers, are improved only by being used."
Airedale NHS Trust v Bland [1993] A.C. 789
Lord Mustill - If the patient is capable of making a decision on whether to permit treatment... his choice must be obeyed even if on any objective view it is contrary to his best interests.
Re T (Adult:Refusal of Treatment [1992] 3 W.L.R. 782
Staughton LJ - An adult whose mental capacity is unimpaired has the right to decide for herself whether she will or will not receive medical or surgical treatment, even in circumstances where she is likely or even certain to die in the absence of treatment.
"I should be left alone to do what I want with my life"
"I should be enabled to do what I want with my life"
Some commentators have criticized the priority given to autonomy on the grounds that it is an excessively individualistic value.
Refusing life-saving medical treatment ignores the impact this might have upon others such as dependent children
There may be a tension between a patient’s legal right to determine what is done to her body and her moral obligations to others.