Gary Johnson’s Untenable Position on Abortion

With the tagline “Sign to Support Life AND a Woman’s Right to Choose” that headlines a form to enter your email address and name (in order to receive political emails), Gary Johnson hopes to walk a line. Unfortunately for Gary, this line is invisible and non-existent.

Let me first provide the full text of Gary Johnson’s position on abortion:

Governor Johnson’s approach to governing is based on a belief that individuals should be allowed to make their own choices in their personal lives. Abortion is a deeply personal choice.

Gary Johnson has the utmost respect for the deeply-held convictions of those on both sides of the abortion issue. It is an intensely personal question, and one that government is ill-equipped to answer.

On a personal level, Gary Johnson believes in the sanctity of the life of the unborn. As Governor, he supported efforts to ban late-term abortions.

However, Gov. Johnson recognizes that the right of a woman to choose is the law of the land, and has been for several decades. That right must be respected and despite his personal aversion to abortion, he believes that such a very personal and individual decision is best left to women and families, not the government. He feels that each woman must be allowed to make decisions about her own health and well-being and that the government should not be in the business of second guessing these difficult decisions.

Gov. Johnson feels strongly that women seeking to exercise their legal right must not be subjected to prosecution or denied access to health services by politicians in Washington, or anywhere else.

Appreciate Life. Respect Choice. Stay Out of Personal Decisions.

Logically and with the premise set before the audience, this stance is untenable, irrational, and unintelligent. The position that Gary Johnson holds (often called “Personally Opposed”) is, simply put, the belief that an individual can be against abortion personally but not against it for others. Johnson takes the Personally Opposed view a step further by actually supporting the right to choose an abortion and claims that it is not an issue for the government to be involved in, “…women seeking to exercise their legal right must not be subjected to prosecution…” and “That right must be respected and despite his personal aversion to abortion, he believes that such a very personal and individual decision is best left to women and families, not the government.”

The problem with both of these positions is that they are logically inconsistent with the premise.

Johnson claims to believe that abortion is murder, “On a personal level, Gary Johnson believes in the sanctity of the life of the unborn” yet, at the same time believes that this act should not be punishable by the government. For Johnson to reasonably hold this view he must also believe that murder is not something that should be made illegal or punishable by the government. For Gary, this is not even an issue to be taken at a State-level but one that Government should not have any say in what-so-ever, “…women seeking to exercise their legal right must not be subjected to prosecution…” Johnson does not believe that abortion (while holding a personal belief that it is, in fact, murder) should be questioned at a State or Federal level.

This is logical buffoonery. Never mind the fact that murder is illegal at a Federal as well as State level (most often punished at the State level) and in some cases is purely a Federal issue, but to believe that abortion is murder and, simultaneously, believe that Women should have the right to murder while also believing that murder should be punished by the government, is incoherent and dishonest. The only way for Johnson to justify his position would be for him to come out saying, “I personally believe that murder is wrong but do not believe that the government should punish murder.”

For the umpteenth time, Johnson proves that he is unfit for the Presidency and is not, even personally, a Pro-Lifer.