Friday, November 16, 2007

RE: What about Fetal Rights?


http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2007/11/16/what-about-fetal-rights/
:

I believe abortion is morally wrong, but I also believe that in a conflict between mother and fetus, a woman’s right must always take precedence. A human being’s rights under the law increase with maturity. That has been the tradition under Anglo-American law as well as world wide for most of history. To suggest that a fetus has the same rights as a mature adult individual borders on the perverse. A woman’s rights should never be placed second to the needs of her fetus. To do so is to treat women first and foremost as communally owned vessels for bringing forth life and only second as autonomous individuals.


The fact that an adult has more rights than a minor or unborn baby/fetus doesn't mean that the adult's "right must always take precedence." The same reasoning would allow a parent to kill an minor child. The parent's rights do take precedence but there are limits. The parent's rights are limited by the rights of a child -- it is unlawful for a parent to neglect or abuse a child.