Quote:
Originally posted by bilmore
The main argument against outlawing slavery was that the slaveowners had a Constitutionally-guaranteed property right in those slaves - they had purchased them for good money, and they had a right to keep them.
The counter was, yes, you have property rights, but you are ignoring the rights that we (the abolitionists) claim are held by those slaves you own.
So, like today, there was an argument over whether someone deserved to be called a "person". And, like today, there were competing rights - to own property, and to live free - that had to be balanced.
And, like today, there was a "wreck their lives" argument - the economy of the South was almost completely dependant on slave labor at that point, and abolition would wreck havoc with an entire economy.
As it worked out, the property rights of the South were eventually deemed to be less compelling that the rights of the slaves to freedom. No one ever claimed that their property rights didn't exist - just that the other parties' rights trumped them. Similarly, while it's certainly not a wonderful situation for the woman involved, I would say that, following intercourse, and a resulting pregnancy, the best balance of the competing rights might lie in letting the kid live.
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Dred Scott. Really? Shirley, you jest.
A woman is not an economy. The right to be free to control your body is not a property right. And its certainly not anywhere near analogous to a property right in a slave. We're not talking commerce here - the woman didn't buy here body. the state is not merely dispossessing an owner of a right to something considered chattel at the time.
There is no trumping solution here, although I applaud your attempt to work an end-around my reasonable offer to compromise.
I view the woman's right as trumping your argument. So we have the unstoppable force up against the immovable object. There is no moral high ground. Compromise? I'm willing to say I'd outlaw third trimester abortions... hell, I might even go to 5 months if you could provide me with some science to support it. Are you willing to compromise?
