Who Owns Your Body?

When you buy a plane ticket, do you think you are giving up your Constitutional right that prohibits unreasonable search? Do you think you ought to be ogled and groped by the government? Many Americans, including myself, are appalled by the behavior of  TSA  (Transportation Security Administration) in our airports. (I know – CBS did a poll that says 80% are OK with this. Eighty percent of Americans don’t fly. Someone rightly said they should ask those who have been through airport security recently.)  TSA says we do give up our rights. They are, as of yesterday, trying to back-pedal a bit and say they will come up with some less objectionable practices. I will object as long as TSA  is in our airports at all, and here is why.

What is the foundation of this right not to be ogled and groped by the government? The Fourth Amendment says “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Looks to me like private property is the basis of this. What belongs to you is yours and you have control over it. If they have no reason to suspect you of a committing a specific crime, they have no right to rifle through your things, or inspect your body.

Who owns your body? Should the government tell you what vitamins or herbs you can take? Should they tell you how much salt you are allowed to consume? Or, fat? Or, if you are allowed to buy raw milk? Or, whether or not you can smoke tobacco? Or, consume anything else that you choose?

Who owns the airports? Not the federal government. Federal construction funds probably opened the door to all this mess, but they do not own airports. Most airports in the US are private property and are controlled by local government, such as cities and counties, along with the airlines and the federal government. Before 9/11 the airlines handled baggage and check in. They still ought to be doing that, rather than the federal government. That brings us to another Amendment to our Constitution – the 10th Amendment. It’s short and to the point and says “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” That means if the Constitution does not give authority to the federal government to make a law or institute a tax, or whatever other measure of control they envision, they should not be allowed to do so by the States or by the people.

As a Christian and as an American, I object to the government having any control over my body. And as the old saying goes, “Give them an inch, and they will take a mile.” Private property ownership is the basis of the freedom we are supposed to have in this country. When the government and the people forget about private property rights, we have all kinds of problems. I don’t think our government schools emphasize this for some reason or other, so I just thought I’d bring it up, for those who might want to consider it.