Upholding Women’s Rights—For Some

Diogenes writes :

A Vermont woman named Patricia Blair has suffered a tragedy: Her unborn twins were killed in an auto accident. Blair—who survived, obviously—thinks that the driver who caused the accident should be prosecuted for the death of her children. But you see the problem: If it’s a crime to kill an unborn child, then abortion is a crime. But Roe v. Wade proclaimed that abortion cannot be a crime. So the legal system is stuck . . . .

In Vermont the law is more straightforward: an unborn child is not recognized as having any legal rights. Quoting Cheryl Hanna, a professor a the University of Vermont Law School, the Boston Herald explains that any change in the state law could imperil the legal status of abortion.

“Having said that, the loss to Mrs. Blair is no less significant and real to her. It’s a shame that there’s not a very good way for the law to legitimately recognize the loss to her,” Hanna said.

So if we begin with the feminist axiom that abortion must be legal, in order to protect the rights of women, then the rights of some women like Patricia Blair must be ignored. And if her unborn twins were both female, the feminist axiom didn’t do much to protect their rights either.