Pro-Life Libertarianism

I recently classified talk.abortion as a newsgroup where the conservative dissenters from liberal orthodoxy are libertarian rather than fascist. That might require explaining since outlawing abortion might not be authoritarian but it sounds authoritarian. To make matters worse, the pro-life movement has the wrong type of backers (“religious fanatics”).

The explanation is simple enough. Under present law, pregnant women have the legal power of life and death over their fetuses. That makes them very local governments. It is consistent for someone to want to restrict governments and to restrict abortion.

If we look at the Libertarian Party we see that, even though the party platform calls for abortion to stay legal, it isn't emphasized. (I think Libertarians are beginning to realize that abortion is not a victimless crime.) They have even nominated a pro-life Presidential candidate (Ron Paul in 1988). A few years ago, there was a Libertarian candidate for Congress in California who disagreed with the party platform on abortion and immigration and who was criticized far more for dissent on immigration.