Abortion is a right, and all rights are absolute and cannot be “balanced” away. A right is a moral principle defining and sanctioning a man’s freedom of action in a social context. Thus, a pregnant woman, like every other individual, has the right to determine her own destiny and the destiny of her body, to choose what constitutes her own best interest and private happiness and to work for its achievement, so long as she respects the same rights in others.
These rights, and all rights, are absolute by their nature. It cannot be proper to negotiate moral principles. It cannot be proper to allow a man only a portion of the freedom he requires by his nature.
What of the fetus? Does it have rights which must be respected? The concept of rights is based on man’s nature and presupposes the existence of an actual, fully formed and separate human being. Fetuses and embryos are not actual human beings; they are potential human beings. They have no rights until they exist apart from the mother, i.e., at birth. This is not to condone the morality of arbitrarily delaying an abortion until the last months of pregnancy–when the fetus is approaching humanness. But the function of the law is to protect rights–not to dictate moral issues which involve no violation of rights.
The only proper function of government is to protect man’s absolute rights against violation by other men. No government, no state, no collective has any “interest” apart from the individuals of which it is composed. Thus, it can have no “interest” which conflicts with any individual’s rights, such as a paternalistic interest in “maternal health.” Our Consitution was drafted in recognition of these principles. It was designed, not as a charter for government power, but as a protection against government power, i.e., against invasion of individual rights by the government. For this reason, the Constitution enumerates the limited powers of the government but not (as made clear in the Ninth Amendment) every individual right.
These are the principles that should be advanced in Webster. If Roe v. Wade is reconsidered, the Supreme Court should affirm abortion as a right that cannot be invaded or compromised.
You want to say govt’s no action----is govt regulation. No, the point in Roe is that the decision on the early fetus belongs to the women, not the govt.
