turpin@ut-sally.UUCP (Russell Turpin) (03/17/88)
In article <24559@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com>, vohra@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com (Pavan Vohra) writes: > So where does this leave us? Probably most libertarians are against > some abortions and not against others, depending on developmental > issues. ... > But I hope that I did convince you that it is not necessarily the case > that a libertarian would have all abortions be legal. > Pavan Vohra Different libertarians take different stands on abortion. Some libertarians, a small minority, take the "pro-life" position: a fetus is a person, and all persons have a right to live (libertarian ethical claim), and therefore abortion is wrong. Some libertarians do not accept the claim that the fetus is a person. Others take a mid-way position: that before a certain developmental stage the fetus is not a person, but that afterwards he or she is and then deserves legal protection. Many, perhaps most, libertarians take a stance on abortion that makes the personhood of the fetus irrelevant to the legal issue. It goes thusly. Even if the fetus is a person, the mother has an absolute right to control her own body. Neither the fetus, nor any other person, has the right to demand the use of the mother's body for his or her own purposes. Therefore the mother has the right to "evict" the fetus from her body, even though by doing so she is depriving it of its life. (As an objectivist would put it: One has a right to life, but not the right to live at another's expense.) I believe this last position is most consistent with libertarian principles. Notice that this position addresses only the legal issue of abortion, not the broader ethical issue. It is entirely consistent with a moral position that holds abortion to be wrong. As with so many other activities, the libertarian (holding this position) declares that abortion should remain legal, that no one should use coercion against those who engage in it, but remains silent on the question of whether it is right or wrong. Russell
jailbait@dasys1.UUCP (Richard Segal) (03/21/88)
In article <10767@ut-sally.UUCP> turpin@ut-sally.UUCP (Russell Turpin) writes: >Different libertarians take different stands on abortion. All I'd like to say is that different libertarians take different stands on every subject known to man. There are those whose stances can be seen as Left Wing or Right Wing or Anarchist or Facist or Minarchist or whatever else you might like to describe. Personally, I lean towards Laissez-Faire Capitalism myself, but I know many who disagree with me. Go to Laissez Faire Books in NYC and ask them about different points of view. I'm sure they have many. Hail Eris, All Hail Discordia. Slack, Jailbait -- Richard Segal Big Electric Cat Public UNIX ..!cmcl2!phri!dasys1!jailbait