The Eschaton, The Micro-chip. Quite an article, about the Virginia Legislature.
My favorite part: Delegate Mark Cole says, "I just think you should have the right to control your own body."
Finally, somebody talking sense. Of COURSE that's right. Um, that means that you are pro-choice on reproductive rights, right Mark? 'Cause then you would be a Libertarian hero. THEN, I would agree with you, if you are just consistent about this "people control their own bodies" thing. Oh....not so much.
(Nod to Anonyman, whose body belongs to his wife)
4 comments:
I am not sure what your specifically referring to!
Do you mean that being pro choice is in line with being libertarian?
Why would that be true?
If one were to view a fetus as a life then libertarian principles would say that you do not have the right to harm another life and therefore libertarians must be pro life!
If one takes the view that a fetus is not a life or somewhat of a person THEN the proper libertarian view would be pro choice.
The first issue seems debatable and therefore I do not see why Mark Cole is necessarily being inconsistent. One can believe that it should be permissible to commit suicide and yet believe that suicide by means of dousing oneself with gasoline and lighting it while being in a densely populated area should not be legal (assuming that legality makes a difference to those committing suicide)
@mj. My take is that the default libertarian answer (the gov't shouldn't be regulating it) applies to the abortion conundrum you describe.
BR, your response still leaves open the question of when does a fetus have a right to life. This is a question that government does have to respond to if government's primary role is seen as protecting the rights of individuals. Does the right to abortion exist up until birth? If so, why? Why does passing through the birth canal give a baby individual rights when moments before it had none? Should it be at the time that a baby is viable outside of the womb? If so, should viability be based on viability in a natural state without modern medicine or viability with modern medicine, which is somewhere around 20 weeks? Or does a fetus have a right to life as soon as it has a heart beat or brain waves? To say that libertarians should reject any government involvement in abortion neglects the fact that at some point, the fetus is an individual with every right to life as its mother.
Not entirely honest, as most anti-abortion types believe that the unborn child has a right to its own body too.
The big argument in abortion the abortion debate is: "is a fetus a human with human rights?"
If the fetus is a human with human rights then its is wrong to kill it. If it is not a human with human rights then its no different than getting liposuction.
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