Libertarians for Life

Libertarians for Life was founded in 1976 by Doris Gordon to show why abortion is a wrong, not a right. Their reasoning is expressly scientific and philosophical rather than either pragmatic or religious, or merely political or emotional. Their position is that this is fully consistent with libertarianism's basic principle that under justice each of us has the obligation not to aggress against (violate the rights of) anyone else -- for any reason (personal, social, or political), however worthy.

The Libertarian Case Against Abortion

To explain and defend its case, LFL argues that:

1. Human offspring are human beings, persons from conception, whether that takes place as natural or artificial fertilization, by cloning, or by any other means.
2. Abortion is homicide -- the killing of one person by another.
3. One's right to control one's own body does not allow violating the obligation not to aggress. There is never a right to kill an innocent person. Prenatally, we are all innocent persons.
4. A prenatal child has the right to be in the mother's body. Parents have no right to evict their children from the crib or from the womb and let them die. Instead both parents, the father as well as the mother, owe them support and protection from harm.
5. No government, nor any individual, has a just power to legally "de-person" any one of us, born or preborn.
6. The proper purpose of the law is to side with the innocent, not against them.

Activities

A special edition of the International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy is devoted to articles contributed by Libertarians for Life. It was edited by group organizers Doris Gordon and John Walker. The group's "Life, Rights, and Rock 'n' Roll" page includes questions by Van Halen rock group member Gary Cherone to Eddie Vedder of the group Pearl Jam.

See Also

• Libertarians Stance on Issues
• Pro-Life Libertarians
• Pro-Choice Libertarians
• Pro-Choice on Everything
• Party platforms 1974-2016

External Links

• Libertarians for Life website.
• Libertarians for Life Facebook page.