Libertarian perspectives on abortion

A uniquely controversial issue, particularly in American politics, is abortion.

Libertarian positions mirror those of other political views: Many libertarians believe that a woman's ownership of her own body and therefore her right to control it includes her right to terminate her pregnancy without any interference. Others believe the unborn child has a right to live, and believe that an abortion is the initiation of fatal force against an utterly helpless victim.

While the abortion issue fiercely divides the American mainstream, pro-life and pro-choice libertarians are not so vehemently separated. Like anarchists and minarchists, they have much more in common than they have dividing them.