
Are Libertarians Pro-Choice?
Are Libertarians pro-choice? On the 50th anniversary of the Libertarian Party (LP), the platform now stands silent on abortion. This is no insignificant change. It
abortion
Kerry Baldwin’s
Conflict on the issue of abortion exists and is escalating, because of one thing: compromise.
Both sides compromise rights. Pro-lifers compromise women’s rights in favor of the fetus. Pro-choicers compromise fetal rights in favor of the woman.
A compromise, even a principled one, begets ambiguity.
The purpose in using property rights to articulate human rights is to make human rights clear and unambiguous. Toward this end, no theory of human rights can be valid if it compromises the rights of half the world’s population and their offspring. It’s my contention that resolving the property rights concerns between women and their offspring is the final hurdle in the centuries old battle in a full, comprehensive, and accurate theory of rights.
I hold that a libertarian view of property rights will resolve this problem, and my research is working toward that end.
While a pregnant woman should be legally required to help the fetus survive outside of her body whenever that is possible, she should retain the legal right to evict the fetus at any time during her pregnancy.
Hosted by The Soho Forum in New York City on December 8, 2019. It featured Walter Block arguing for the resolution and Kerry Baldwin arguing against it. Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein moderated. It was an Oxford-style debate.
Robert Murphy is a Christian and economist, Research Assistant Professor with the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech, Senior Fellow with the Mises Institute, and co-host with Tom Woods of the podcast “Contra Krugman.”
Murphy interviewed Kerry Baldwin to discuss her debate with Walter Block and how property rights corrects both sides of the abortion debate
Are Libertarians pro-choice? On the 50th anniversary of the Libertarian Party (LP), the platform now stands silent on abortion. This is no insignificant change. It
Summary: A Christian Libertarian Alliance Against Abortion In this episode, Kerry Baldwin was invited on with Keith Knight of the Don’t Tread on Me podcast
The State of Texas has thrown the US Supreme Court a curve ball with their new anti-abortion law. They’ve succesfully circumvented Roe v Wade by
Americans haven’t changed much in their approach to abortion over the past fifty years. Since Roe v Wade, conventional arguments on both sides have traversed
When actress Michelle Williams gave her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes, everyone knew what she was talking about. Sometime in Williams’ past, she had an abortion. But she
There are many different ways to make an argument. The typical argument is to make a moral case for or against abortion. Those who’ve argued abortion is immoral (or sinful) have failed to be persuasive. The complexity of situation of unwanted pregnancy is never cut and dry. Many concede a woman is choosing is “the lesser of two evils.”
I agree that abortion is sinful. But I also acknowledge the moral argument against abortion is unpersuasive. Strict pro-lifers, including Abortion Abolitionists, are outraged that society is not persuaded. And perhaps that’s reason enough to be outraged. However, outrage won’t successfully advance the cause of human rights for women and the unborn. And that’s why I’ve chosen a different approach.
I answer this question with a question: if God’s law cannot bring us to repentance (Romans 8:3-5), on what basis do you suppose man’s law must bring us to repentance?
Is man’s law somehow superior to God’s law? Seems like a strange position to take as a Christian. No historic reformed confession holds that civil authorities are a Means of Grace. Therefore we cannot construe the civil law as having affect on Regeneration of the heart. Moreover, the requirements of God’s law for salvation are not fulfilled by Christian converts. Only Christ’s active and passive obedience has fulfilled the Law of God. Christ’s fulfillment of the law, and propitiation to the redeemed, is what’s necessary for right standing before God. Man’s adherence to our civil laws, even if aligned with God’s law is insufficient.
Civil law is limited in scope. The civil magistrates cannot judge matters of the heart. They can only judge acts of aggression. Where an act of aggression has not taken place, even if the heart contemplated it, the state has no proper jurisdiction before God.
The predominant view of the pro-life cause has always been to criminalize immediately. Even incrementalists would prefer it. Many believe, that if we just pass a law this alone will save millions of unborn babies. This view is naive at best. The decades long war on drugs demonstrates the problem with using legislation to stop an unwanted human behavior. Obviously the drug war is disanalagous from abortion in that abortion involves a victim. However, the facts remain: the war on drugs, enacted to stop drug use and shut down cartels, failed miserably. A war on abortion, enacted with the same end goal, to stop abortion and shut down abortion cartels, would fail too. The war on drugs has not only failed, but taken down millions of innocent people with it. This should a warning to us that a war on abortion would result in failure and injustice.
No. Abortion should not remain legal. However, merely passing laws for their own sake are not solutions. The state is capable of acts of aggression against the people and when such aggression perpetrated, the people ultimately have no recourse. So in considering how to criminalize abortion, we must take into the overall system of enforcement. Even the context of Romans 13 is in light of Romans 12. Romans 12:21 exhorts us, “do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” There’s no reason why this shouldn’t apply to the context which God-ordained civil governance operates.
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Challenging & rethinking paradigms in politics, religion, and culture