Antinatalism, Abortion and Existence (A discussion between Karim Akerma and Julio Cabrera)

In the last two years I have been participating in debates about abortion within Antinatalism. This insertion of the problem of abortion within a larger movement gave this debate its own peculiar characteristics: how could someone who opposes birth also oppose abortion?

The vast majority of antinatalists are pro-abortion, and the reasoning seems easy and direct: if we are against giving birth to people by placing them manipulatively in a world full of suffering, it is obvious that we must agree to abort a being that will be manipulated and thrown into suffering.

However, this inference is not as easy as it seems. I think we can be antinatalist and antiabortion because deciding not to have children and deciding to abort children are two logically and ethically different decisions. I explain this in my text.

Professor Karim Akerma, from Germany, who is pro-abortion, and I, Julio Cabrera, from Argentina-Brazil, who have an anti-abortion line, decided to publish our contributions on the topic. We present our difference of ideas in a plural environment, guided by a basic respect for the opposing position. But, it seems, our positions are irreconcilable.

You can find Professor Akerma's texts and mine in Antinatalism, Abortion and Existence (A discussion between Karim Akerma and Julio Cabrera)

Julio Cabrera

Posted in: NEGATIVE ETHICS