I am Libertarian.
I believe that human life is entitled to Divine Liberty. Or, for the non-believers, Natural Liberty.
But I don’t know that I can say life begins at conception.
I am willing to sign onto the idea that the moment the swimmer breaks through the egg wall and 1+1=1 occurs, we don’t yet have human life. I’m willing to say that in the early stages of development, the collection of cells that will eventually become a human child are exactly that; a collection of cells. A glob. A growing glob. But not yet life.
Fast forward.
I am adamant in my belief that the minute before literal birth, the minute before the child enters the world, the child is a child. As much a child as that child would be upon birth.
I think that somewhere between the Champion Swimmer winning the race and birth, that collection of cells transforms into a child; a life. I can’t say if it’s when the heart beats. It may be when the brain stem forms. Perhaps when blood flows.
I don’t know.
But I DO know that it happens. I just don’t know when.
Which brings me to my point.
The Governor of North Carolina agrees with me.
And she is a she. And she is a Democrat.
Governor Bev Purdue signed into law a bill that would allow someone who causes an unborn child to die to be charged with murder:
Raleigh, N.C. — Suspects accused of causing a fetus to die or injuring one inside the womb at any stage of development would face separate criminal charges under a law Gov. Beverly Perdue has signed.
The measure Perdue signed on Friday doesn’t apply to legal abortions but does convey legal status upon fetuses unable to survive outside their mother’s womb.
A child is a child long before he leaves the womb of a mother. This is why families mourn miscarriages. This is why parents name their unborn children and hold services for them.
They are human children. Complete with the Divine Liberty granted to all of us.
It is long past time that we give these kids their legal due.
Is there a widely held view of abortion among libertarians? It’s always seemed to me like there wouldn’t be an obvious side for a libertarian to come down on on that issue.
Is there a widely held view of abortion among libertarians?
It’s virtually 50-50.
Half feel that the mother is sovereign. Half feel the child is.