biolegitimacy means legitimacy afforded to a form of life by the state, medical professionals, etc. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 93 out of 100.
Why “biolegitimacy” is a great word
BIOLEGITIMACY — [Noun] The legitimacy granted to a form of life, particularly on the basis of its biological or physiological existence, by state, medical, or other institutional authorities. From the combining form bio- (from Greek bios, 'life') + legitimacy (from Latin legitimus, 'lawful'). Coined in the early 21st century by anthropologist Didier Fassin. Unlike “biopower,” which focuses on the mechanisms of control over populations, or “sovereignty,” which rests on political or legal authority, biolegitimacy is the currency of recognition issued upon the presentation of a suffering body. It is the asylum-seeker’s scar made into a document, the refugee’s malnourishment weighed as evidence, and the undocumented migrant invoking a medical emergency to avoid deportation—a final, fragile appeal to a shared biology when all other arguments for a human life have been exhausted.
noun
- Legitimacy afforded to a form of life by the state, medical professionals, etc.“For quotations using this term, see Citations:biolegitimacy.”