A Note on Biden and Abortion

Note on Joe Biden and Abortion   

Tibor R. Machan

His pro-life abortion stance should be much more of a problem for Vice President Joe Biden then the media has made it thus far.  And his Left Wing base is giving him a pass, quite unjustly. Here is why:  

If, as the Veep claims, a conceptus or zygote has the rights of a human infant--especially the right to life, so that no one may end its life, including the pregnant woman who is carrying it--then the issue cannot, pace Mr. Biden, be a private decision.  Analogously, if I have an infant in my home I have no right to end its life, not unless it is a direct, unambiguous threat to my own (like a violent intruder would be).  

Self-defense would be the only justification to a pro-lifer for having an abortion.  Otherwise for pro-lifers terminating a pregnancy with the result of the death of the zygote would amount to homicide, possibly out and out murder.  And anything along those lines opens the matter to a criminal inquiry, which is certainly not a private matter.  

So it is clear that the pro-life position has problems with the stance that a government or a law enforcement agency must stay out of a pregnant woman’s “private” life.  The pro-choice stance doesn’t have this problem since it doesn’t recognize a zygote as in possession of the right to life.  Zygotes are potential but not actual human beings (although they are, of course, human zygotes).  But being that they do not have the rights of, say, babies or infants, just as a human toe or finger doesn’t have the rights of a person.

Accordingly, a pro-life position, such as Joe Biden’s, has altogether too much intrusive statism about it.  Government or law enforcement would be authorized to defend the zygote from anyone who would choose to destroy it; even its accidental death, as in a miscarriage, would arguably be subject to legal scrutiny, as would that of any human infant.

         While Joe Biden is relatively silent about his stance on these matters, the surrounding issues should not be overlooked by the media. His current position is duplicitous!  I do not believe Joe Biden or anyone on his team has fully addressed these matters. And the Republicans are probably going to avoid it since they are no less likely to be confused about it.