h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Libertarians are not as summarily agreed about abortion as you indicate. It *is* the federal government's job to protect a person's right to life, and, if a fetus is indeed a person, then this right supercedes another person's right to privacy. Since no one can say with true certainty whether or not a fetus qualifies as a person, many Libertarians believe that both positions can be reasonably defended (Believe it or not, you don't have to be a religious fanatic to oppose abortion!). Libertarians are, however, extremely opposed to such radical acts as bombing abortion clinics or shooting abortion doctors or any activity which prevents a reasonable discussion of the issue. Of all of the planks on the 2000 US Libertarian platform, Pro-Choice passed the vote by the narrowest margin, with many members calling to let the "platform remain silent and the candidate speak out" on his personal view. It's safe to say that this issue remains about as divisive for the Libertarian Party as it is for society in general.

You said:
"It *is* the federal government's job to protect a person's right to life, and, if a fetus is indeed a person, then this right supercedes another person's right to privacy."

Man has a fundemental right to life. The 3 major derivates of the right to life are:
-The right to property: the right to gain, keep, and dispose of material values.
-The right to the pursuit of happiness: the right to live for one's own sake and fuffilment.
-The right to liberty: the right to think and choose and act in accordance with one’s judgment.

If the government veto's the right to abortion, it is violating the woman's right to liberty: the government is taking away her choice to think and choose and act in accordance with her judgment on a part of her own body. If the government veto's a woman's right to abortion, they are violating her right to liberty, and in doing that, her own right to life. A fetus is not a person - it is a part of a woman's body; therefore it is not an individual.

Also:

The purpose of the government is to protect invdividual rights. This entails only three govenmental functions:
-The police: to protect men from criminals.
-The armed forces: to protect men from foreign invaders.
-The law courts: to settle disputes among men.

Nowhere in this list does it say that it is the government's right to violate a woman's right to life - and therefore individual rights in general.

In summary:
The government is violating individual rights and the right to life in not giving women the right to abortion.

Good post, bro.

I would just like to say that it is about time that pro-abortion campaigners stopped surrendering the title of pro-life to anti-abortion campaigners. If the fetus were actually a person, then abortion WOULD be murder, does a woman have the choice to murder her child? But the fetus is not an individual but a part of the woman's body, it is her right to life that affirms her right to abortion.

I am therefore pro-life AND pro-abortion.