Objectivists - Slavery and abortion...is there an inconstancy


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The standard argument from supporters of slavery were the slaves were their property. They own it and have the sole right to determine the value, use and disposal of this property. That the slaves were not citizens, not human beings in the full sense, with the rights of a human being. My property, my choice.

Following this line of logic as many objectivists do to justify abortion. My body, my choice.

If objectivists value the natural rights of citizens, of all human beings, there is an apparent contradiction. I offer three statements for consideration, from the Ayn Rand Lexicon.

Individual Rights

“America’s founding ideal was the princeple of individual rights. Nothing more—and nothing less. The rest—everything that America achieved, everything she became, everything “noble and just,” and heroic, and great, and unprecedented in human history—was the logical consequence of fidelity to that one principle. The first consequence was the principle of political freedom, i.e., an individual’s freedom from physical compulsion, coercion or interference by the government. The next was the economic implementation of political freedom: the system of capitalism.[“A Preview,” ARL, 1, 24, 5.]” Excerpt From: Ayn Rand & Harry Binswanger. “The Ayn Rand Lexicon.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-ayn-rand-lexicon/id35792058

Abortion

“Abortion. An embryo has no rights. Rights do not pertain to a potential, only to an actual being. A child cannot acquire any rights until it is born. The living take precedence over the not-yet-living (or the unborn). Abortion is a moral right—which should be left to the sole discretion of the woman involved; morally, nothing other than her wish in the matter is to be considered. Who can conceivably have the right to dictate to her what disposition she is to make of the functions of her own body? [“Of Living Death,” TO, Oct. 1968, 6.]”Excerpt From: Ayn Rand & Harry Binswanger. “The Ayn Rand Lexicon.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-ayn-rand-lexicon/id35792058

Freedom

“Freedom. What is the basic, the essential, the crucial principle that differentiates freedom from slavery? It is the principle of voluntary action versus physical coercion or compulsion. [“America’s Persecuted Minority: Big Business,” CUI, 46.] Freedom, in a political context, has only one meaning: the absence of political coercion.
[Ibid.]” Excerpt From: Ayn Rand & Harry Binswanger. “The Ayn Rand Lexicon.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-ayn-rand-lexicon/id357920589

If abortion is a moral right, should the man who fathered the child not also have the right to deny supporting a child he does not want, but the mother does. The mother may have the abortion, but the father has no voice in the choice.

 

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