Source:Reason Magazine– I think you know what this picture is about.

“There’s a belief on the American left that says it’s impossible to be both a principled libertarian and a principled pro-lifer—that the two positions are somehow intellectually incompatible. It’s been popping up more often lately as liberal writers look for ways to criticize Sen. Rand Paul, as in this Salon piece, where the author says Paul and his father “have always played fast and loose with their libertarian principles when it comes to reproductive health.”

The unstated premise on which that statement relies is that No True Libertarian could also be against abortion. But in reality, it’s not the case that all libertarians believe women should have the right to terminate a pregnancy. More to the point, it’s flatly incorrect to suggest that opposition to legal abortion is irreconcilable with the belief system that places a person in the libertarian camp.

What is true is that most libertarians—at least historically—have held pro-choice views. In their 2012 book The Libertarian Vote, David Boaz, David Kirby, and (former Reason Foundation polling director) Emily Ekins looked at the data and confirmed as much. “According to our analysis of 2008 [American National Election Study] data, 62 percent of libertarians are pro-choice versus 37 percent pro-life, similar to percentages of the national population,” they wrote. Stated otherwise, as recently as 2008, a six-in-ten majority of libertarians thought women should be able to legally get an abortion.”

From Reason Magazine 

“As a political philosophy, libertarianism stresses concepts such as self-ownership, voluntary consent, and non-agression. In many areas of human activity, the application of such ideas seems relatively straightforward. In others, reaching clarity is far more difficult.

On Tuesday, May 21, from 2pm to 3pm in Washington, D.C., Reason hosted a discussion tackling one of the most controversial and debated issues of the day: abortion. Among self-identified libertarians, there’s a wide variety of positions, ranging from support for all forms of abortions to the prohibition of the same.”

Source:Reason Magazine– I think you know what this is about.

From Reason Magazine

One thing that Stephanie Slade said in her Reason piece is that if she didn’t believe that fetus’s were babies and that life started at conception, she would be pro-choice on abortion. I have the opposite position and say that if I believe life started at conception, I would be anti-choice on abortion. I would be against a right to choose an abortion to end pregnancies. Other than to save the life and health of the mother.

This is exactly where the abortion debate is: when do you believe life starts, at conception, or when the fetus is born and becomes a baby.

I’m not a Libertarian, but I don’t believe being anti-choice on abortion is anti-libertarian. Especially if you believe that life starts at conception and you have consistent libertarian views both on economic policy and social issues. Which is what Ron Paul and his son Rand Paul both have.

And one thing I would give anti-choice Libertarians on abortion credit for is that when they say their pro-life, they really mean it. They also tend to be against the death penalty and the use of drones.

So I think it’s hard for today’s so-called Progressives (Socialists, in actuality) to make the case that anti-choice on abortion and argue Libertarians are now pro-big government, because they want government involvement when it comes to health care. Because when they also tend to support same-sex marriage, prostitution, gambling, pornography, marijuana, gambling and are pro-choice on other issues. But that won’t stop Salon, AlterNet, The Nation and many other New-Left publications, from trying to make that case anyway.