SHOULD ABORTION BE CRIMINALIZED? REJOINDER TO AKERS, DAVIES AND SHAFFER ON ABORTION

Walter E Block

Abstract


There is a gigantic, stupendous difference between being evicted and being killed, even if, upon occasion, the former leads to the latter. Still, even in these cases, we are entitled to distinguish between these two very different concepts. With regard to the controversy surrounding the abortion issue, the pro-choice side maintains that women have a right to do both; the pro-life forces maintain that women have a right to do neither. Evictionism is the theory that it should be legal for a woman to evict the fetus at any time during her pregnancy, but never, ever, to explicitly kill it. That would be murder. Were evictionism to be the law of the land, with present medical technology, all evicted fetuses in the first two trimesters would die, but they would not be murdered. All evicted fetuses in the last trimester would live, in alternative environments. And, as medical technology improves over time, more and more of those who are evicted at earlier stages of the pregnancy would be able to live. Ultimately, but not at present, evictionism would save the lives of all fetuses.

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References


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