ABSTRACT
A woman's right to abortion must be seen as one fundamental application of the broader principle of individual rights. Notice that both sides in the abortion debate invoke the principle of "rights". Anti-abortionists claim to uphold a "right to life". Pro-choice advocates speak of a woman's "right to abortion". Most anti-abortionists are religious conservatives, whose view of human nature and rights is grounded in faith-based beliefs, bereft of rational arguments. In fact, a woman does have a right to choose between motherhood and abortion, although not for the irrational reasons advanced by liberals. The validation of a right to abortion requires a rational understanding of the concept "rights", a definition grounded in the facts of nature, neither in religious faith nor in subjective feeling. The conventional argument against abortion is grounded in belief in the supernatural; in the history of the Platonic-Christian school of philosophy. The modern anti-abortionist view of human nature comes directly out of religious faith.
