PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - B Björkman
AU  - S O Hansson
TI  - Bodily rights and property rights
AID  - 10.1136/jme.2004.011270
DP  - 2006 Apr 01
TA  - Journal of Medical Ethics
PG  - 209--214
VI  - 32
IP  - 4
4099  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/32/4/209.short
4100  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/32/4/209.full
SO  - J Med Ethics2006 Apr 01; 32
AB  - Whereas previous discussions on ownership of biological material have been much informed by the natural rights tradition, insufficient attention has been paid to the strand in liberal political theory represented by Felix Cohen, Tony Honoré, and others, which treats property relations as socially constructed bundles of rights. In accordance with that tradition, we propose that the primary normative issue is what combination of rights a person should have to a particular item of biological material. Whether that bundle qualifies to be called “property” or “ownership” is a secondary, terminological issue. We suggest five principles of bodily rights and show how they can be applied to the construction of ethically appropriate bundles of rights to biological material.