On Abortion

Libertarianism is freedom, each individual is free to pursue life, liberty, and happiness in whatever fashion they desire, but they are not free to impinge on the freedom of others who are attempting to do the same.

Applying this same logic in all cases, we have to take the view that as a human life (or even potential human life) no one has the right to impinge on that individuals right of existence and quest for happiness.  Abortion of course would end that quest for happiness.

The Libertarian Party has adopted the statist position that a fetus is not yet a life and therefore the happiness of the pregnant woman outweighs the rights of the unborn.  This is a philosophical cop out by libertarians and submission to the statist view, making the case that the statist's have won the argument, if not the philosophical position, then certainly the public relations case.  For a good example of this philosophical dichotomy we can substitute another word for 'abortion' in this classic explanation, say 'cannabalism', which proves the argument does not make sense.

It is interesting to note that the Libertarian Party takes a firm stand in their philosophical position, except in some cases like abortion and environmentalism, where they are willing to accept the argument lost.  After all, membership is more important than adhering to your philosophy.

The Libertarian Party platform states 'Recognizing that abortion is a sensitive issue and that people can hold good-faith views on all sides, we believe that government should be kept out of the matter, leaving the question to each person for their conscientious consideration.'  Contemporary libertarian philosophers even write of the fetus as a parasite that the host has a right to remove.  This view is incredibly callous and presupposes that again the statist position is correct, the fetus becomes life when we want it to, for convenience sake.