What Does Autonomy Mean?

1. When someone has autonomy they are using their freedom to choose their own life plan. Every thought and action is made independently. An individual bases their life plan on the morals and beliefs they have. Typically the morals and beliefs have been reflected and thought on by the individual. The actions they make are made by their own free will without being influenced or coerced by another person to make that decision. The action is authentic and is something that the person would normally do. They are capable to rationalize between different decisions and choose the one they feel is best for them.

2. Having autonomy is what makes life worth living and fun. We get to choose what we want to wear, the career we want to do, say what we
Autonomy permits us to be whoever we want to be. Being ourselves makes us feel like we have a purpose on this Earth and makes us happy. No one likes to be forced or guilt tripped into doing things. We lose our sense of autonomy and freedom. Most of the time we usually resent what we are forced to do. If somebody was constantly over your shoulder telling you what job you have to have, who you have to date, or what friends you can have, life would be pretty awful and almost pointless. That’s why so many people have fought and even gone to the extreme and died to gain and protect their freedom.

3. It is important for a patient to have autonomy when being medically cared for. They should have the freedom in their decision on being treated or not. After all it is their own body. Doctors may be more educated and know what’s best for the patient but if the patient’s decision is autonomous it should be respected. A doctor should not let their own values impact whether
Informed consent is important in a patient’s autonomy. A physician may violate this by getting a patient to consent to a treatment by using big, fancy words where they don’t actually know what is being performed. This could also occur when aren’t informed of important parts of the treatment. Donagan talks of a patient who was informed of the surgery to his prostate, not that his spermatic cords would be severed. A patient may be told that a mastectomy would occur, but not realize that a mastectomy involved removal of their breast (Donagan, 162). A physician may also only give the patient one option for treatment but there is actually multiple alternatives the physician doesn’t believe in. For example, a cancer patient may be told the only way to get rid of the cancer is through surgery. There is also chemotherapy and radiation therapy but the doctor doesn’t believe they work so he doesn’t give those options. Doctors sometimes deceive their patients by giving them false hope or don’t tell the full truth about the illness or treatment. They could tell the patient that 95% of people recover from this disease but don’t tell the patient they are part of the 5% who don’t. The doctor doesn’t think the patient can take the news, but it’s immoral for the physician to not tell the