Block on Abortion
by Roger E. Bissell
The Free Market Case Against Abortion
by weebies
"Libertarianism and the free market endorse liberty and the rule of law, where
the weak cannot be victimized by the strong. Abortion promotes tyranny and the rule
of the jungle, where the weak are victimized by the strong."
Libertarians for Life
"Libertarians for Life was founded in 1976 to show why abortion is a wrong, not a
right. Our reasoning is expressly scientific and philosophical rather than either
pragmatic or religious, or merely political or emotional. Politically, of course,
our perspective is libertarian. Libertarianism's basic principle is that, under
justice, each of us has the obligation not to aggress against (violate the rights of)
anyone else -- for any reason (personal, social, or political), however worthy."
Pharmacists and Freedom
by Sheldon Richman
"Would we hear objections if a supermarket owner refused to sell beer and wine
because of his belief that drinking alcohol is sinful or harmful? Probably not.
But for many people, birth control requires special rules, and pharmacists do not have
a 'right to choose.'"
A Principled, Middle-Ground Position on Abortion
by Roy Halliday
The non-aggression principle combined with a modicum of regard for innocent human life
leads to conclusions about abortion that makes sense to most Americans: (1) A woman has
the right to choose to have an abortion if her life is threatened by the pregnancy,
because this is self-defense. (2) It is OK for a woman who was raped to get an abortion,
because she is not responsible for her pregnancy, and to force her to carry the fetus
for nine months would be to make her a slave. (3) Late-term abortions, when the fetus is
more fully developed and might be able to survive outside the womb, are less excusable
than early-term abortions. (4) Even though a woman might not have the moral right to
kill her fetus in most circumstances, we should not use laws or other forms of violence
to prevent her from doing so (except maybe when the fetus is at a point where it could
live outside the womb), because as a practical matter, it is almost impossible to know
whether a woman has a legitimate reason for having an abortion, and to stop a woman who
is determined to have an abortion would require kidnapping her and keeping her in
bondage. (5) We should not submit to the arrogant demands of the “pro-choice” faction
to have the government finance abortions because it is wrong to pay for abortions with
stolen money, and it is wrong to force “pro-life” people to promote abortions. (6) Most
abortions (93 percent) are done for the woman’s convenience rather than for therapeutic
or eugenic reasons. These abortions are repugnant and inhumane at the
least, and those who contemplate them should be discouraged by all nonviolent means
rather than acclaimed as admirable woman exercising their discretion.
Retreat from Barbarism—the Court on Partial-Birth Abortions
April 18, 2007
by Dr. John A. Sparks
"The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Gonzales v. Carhart is an important step away from
the cruel practice of abortion. Although it upholds only the Partial-birth Abortion Ban
Act of 2003 (President Clinton vetoed similar bans twice) and therefore does not deal
with the bulk of abortions, the opinion at least recognizes that taking a living,
sentient youngster part way out of the safety of a mother’s womb and then killing it is
such a heinous act that the state, in this case, the federal government, may prohibit it."
Solving the Abortion Conundrum
by Gene Callahan
"A woman may not have meant to have "picked up" the passenger she is carrying and might
find his presence annoying, inconvenient, etc. However, it is certainly not the
passenger’s fault he finds himself there, and he has committed no tort against her.
To deliberately kill him is just as much an act of murder as your tossing the shipwreck
victim back into the sea – in fact, the position of the foetus is stronger than that of
the shipwreck, because the shipwreck had to purposefully crawl aboard the ship, while
the foetus found itself there willy-nilly."
Abortion
by Dr. Mary Ruwart
The good doctor answers tough questions on abortion.
Abortion: A Market Solution?
by Jim Davies
"The protesters can come to the young lady and say, Mary, we think the fetus has
an interest in this matter and wish to act in its behalf. We want you to give birth,
and we're willing to compensate you for the extra trouble and cost."
Abortion: A Moral Quagmire
June 11, 2002
by Wendy McElroy
"Any commentary on abortion should include a statement of the writer's position.
I represent what seems to be a growing "middle ground" in pro-choice opinion.
Legally, I believe in the right of every human being to medically control everything
under his or her own skin. Many things people have a legal right to do, however,
seem clearly wrong to me: adultery, lying to friends, walking past someone who is
bleeding on the street. Some forms of abortion fall into that category. Morally
speaking, my doubts have become so extreme that I could not undergo the procedure
past the first trimester and I would attempt to dissuade friends from doing so."
Abortion and Self-Ownership: A Comment
by George H. Smith
Abortion, Coercion and the State
by Anthony Gregory
"Only anarchists and libertarians can have a truly consistent view on the question.
Those who oppose all aggression and murder can, consistently with the rest of their
philosophy, regard abortion as utterly immoral. Those who oppose all aggression and
statism can, consistently with the rest of their philosophy, oppose state laws or
the use of force to stop abortion. And while I can’t know for sure whether
deLaubenfels and weebies can ever see eye to eye on the issue, it is perfectly
consistent and libertarian to adamantly oppose abortion as well as government laws
and the use of force against it."
Abortion Repeal
by Murray N. Rothbard
Abortion Revisited: The Libertarian Case for Abortion
by Adam Young
"Without the inviolability of individual sovereignty, libertarianism itself goes by
the wayside. Individual sovereignty is a crucial moral weapon against the dominant
ethos of consequence-based “morality.” As I hope to demonstrate by the end of this
column, without individual sovereignty, any aggression against the individual can
be legitimized depending on the aims that the aggressors hope to achieve."
Block and the Rights of the Father
by Jocelyn Maxwell
In Defense of Abortion
by John deLaubenfels
"Once the creature is capable of living on its own, then I think it is reasonable
to talk about rights beyond those of the parents. Before that point is reached,
I view any attempt to intervene by force to be misguided and, ultimately, a
back-door excuse to meddle in others' affairs. I consider such a position to be
the exact opposite of 'libertarian.'"
Isn't an embryo a person, with unique DNA?
by Mary Ruwart
"While the embryo is not genetically identical to the mother, it also is not a "separate"
individual because it cannot be "separated" from the mother and live. Obviously, as
medicine advances, there will come a time when an embryo can be separated from its mother
at any stage of development and still survive. When this happens, abortion is likely to
become obsolete, especially in a libertarian society."
Libertarian Theory and Children's Rights: The Fiduciary Model, Rationality, Interests,
and The Challenge of Abortion
by Jason Sorens
Pregnancy, Abortion and Child Support
by John deLaubenfels
"If there is going to be some legally enforceable implicit contract in the absence
of an explicit one, it must not put one partner's "rights" completely ahead of the other."
Should Abortion be a Crime?
by Murray N. Rothbard
Toward a Libertarian Theory of Abortion
by Walter Block
Where's the Harm?: A Libertarian Case for Abortion on Demand
by Colin Gavaghan
Why Libertarians should be Pro-Choice regarding Abortion
by Jan Narveson
"If an abortion is had, then the human organism which would have developed into a
human person with libertarian rights does not in fact do so. There is no person
harmed, as such, by abortion. And since harm to persons is precisely what liberty
consists in the absence of, that is the end of the matter. There is, absolutely, no
intelligible case for restricting abortions on libertarian grounds."
Back to the list of topics
This page was last updated on January 1, 2008.