and why[this person] is sick. Therefore one needs to distance oneself from things that harm the body and to conduct ones life [in order to] be healthy(Yad Hil. Deot 4:1).
Corollaries to this position are preventive measures formulated by the Shulhan Arukh:
When life is endangered, it is a mitzvah to remove the threat, guard against it, and to be very alert—“take utmost care and watch yourself”(Deut. 4:9). Anyone who fails to remove it and leaves it, he has transgressed the positive commandment“do not bring bloodguilt[into your house](Deut. 22:8— Shulhan Arukh Hoshen Mishpat 427:8).
This idea ultimately led to the principle that when life is endangered (pikuach nefesh) all, except three commandments are set aside(San. 74a). The tradition also understands that the body is not personal property but leased from God as stated by Maimonides :
The Bet Din must be careful not to accept ransom from a [convicted] murderer, even if he would give all the money in the world, and even if the blood-avenger wants to ransom him[the Bet Din shall not accept it], for the soul of this about to be executed individual does not belong to the blood-avenger but to the Holy One, blessed be He(Yad Hil. Rozeah 1:4).
This assumption is inconsistent with the notion of autonomy of some in the Reform movement since an individual cannot be autonomous while part of someone else. Practically, one can be autonomous in relation to God but not to the community in which one lives, which by its very nature restricts individual autonomy. This means that our discussion may have no meaning for some Liberal theologians except as a practical matter.