July 4, 2007 Washington, DC http://(LifeNews.com) -- Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is little known outside his Texas congressional district or to libertarians who backed his quixotic third party bid for the presidency in 1988. But to those who know him, the obstetrician combines his views on freedom and liberty with a pro-life perspective. Paul told attendees at the National Right to Life convention recently that his views on abortion were solidified as a young doctor in training.
It was then that he saw a colleague leave a newborn infant to die rather than providing emergency medical treatment because he believed the baby had no chance at living more than a few hours.
For some libertarians, the view that government should be limited means that it shouldn't prohibit abortions or put any limits on them. Paul disagrees.
Asked by the Spartanburg Herald-Journal newspaper in South Carolina to spell out his abortion views vis-a-vis his views on the right to privacy, Paul says they go hand in hand.
"You have a right to privacy in your home - I don't want any cameras or any invasion in the home. Your home is your castle in a free society," Paul explained.
At the same time, "That doesn't give you the right to kill a baby in the bed."
"If there is another life involved, and that crib happens to be the uterus, the issue is not telling the woman what to do. The issue is whether there's another life," Paul told the newspaper.
"I tell my libertarian friends that if you have a live fetus, and it's 4, 5, 6, 7 pounds, and it has a heartbeat, and brainwaves, moves and sucks its thumb, and you kill him, you're committing an act of violence," Paul explained about his reconciliation of the two principles.
"So, it's a little more complicated than saying a woman can do what she wants with her body, and that's why it's been difficult for a lot of people to sort this out," Paul added.
Ultimately, Paul said he wants to see the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade and make it a state issue again, where state legislatures are free to pass abortion bans.