ABSTRACT
The first principle suggests that if an individual or an organization does not make a genuine attempt to guarantee all of a child’s needs, both before and after its birth, it cannot be viewed as the protector of that child’s right to life. The second principle entails that the decision about abortion should be made by all those whose lives are to be importantly affected by that decision. The paradox, then, is that the attempt to guarantee the conditions in which each woman’s right to decide about abortion would become a real option results in the achievement of conditions in which she no longer has that right. The abortion issue shows clearly why, in our search for justice, freedom, and equality, it may well be more fruitful to change our emphasis from the establishment of individual rights to the fulfillment of human needs.
