You might think that I’m joking when I say that we need cyborg rights to be codified into law, but I honestly think that, given the pace of development of medical implants and the rights issues raised by having proprietary technologies becoming part of a human body, I think that this is absolutely essential for bodily autonomy, disability rights, and human rights more generally. This has already become an issue, and it will only become a larger issue moving forwards.
No but seriously we need cyborg rights, in case you don’t know how many people count as cyborgs here are some examples;
- People with cochlear implants are cyborgs
- People with pacemakers are cyborgs
- People with insulin pumps are cyborgs
There are even edge cases revolving around how much electricity and integration into the body are necessary to make someone a cyborg.
- People with replacement hips or other bones are by some definitions cyborgs
- People with implanted medical devices such as artificial valves or stents are by some definitions cyborgs
- People with prosthetic limbs are by some definitions cyborgs
- People with ostomy bags are by some definitions cyborgs
- People in wheel chairs, electric or not, are by some definitions cyborgs
The list could go on but I think I made my point that cyborgs are a lot more than just people with robot arms, they are the disabled deserving of the rights to the technology their lives literally depend on.
This is needed.
Earlier this year, a woman was forcibly deprived of a brain implant that was treating her epilepsy because the company that made the implant went bankrupt. Here’s a link to one of several articles about it:
Doctors Forced To Remove Patient’s Brain Implant After The Maker Went Bust
This story happened back in the 2010s according to the first article but is still relevant. Also if my cochlears were repossessed by the company for some asinine reason I would literally stop being able to do 80% of the things I do and my future would be ruined. Cyborg rights are necessary and should have been codified decades ago
Their Bionic Eyes Are Now Obsolete and Unsupported
This was in 2020, and the patients weren’t even informed of it – one day their eyes just stopped working because the company that made them went out of business.