A Response To Tom Woods on Parental Obligations

Among libertarians, there are four competing theories on the nature of parental obligations:

1. The Theory of Parental Ownership: parents own their children as property. This has been advocated by Benjamin Tucker and Jan Narveson.
2. The Theory of Parenting as Charity: parents have no enforceable obligations so any care they provide is akin to charity. This was advocated by Murray Rothbard, Harry Browne, Wendy McElroy, and many others.
3. The Theory of Parenting as Voluntary Social Contract: parents do have obligations, but only after they voluntarily take on this commitment by tacit contract with society at large. This has been advocated by Roderick Long and Steve Horwitz.
4. The Theory of Parental Responsibility: parenting is an enforceable obligation that arises by creation of peril through causal action by the parents. This last theory has been advocated by Nathaniel Branden, Doris Gordon, and Stephan Kinsella.

In Episode 733 of The Tom Woods Show, Tom Woods set out a brief defence of the principle of causal responsibility for parents. This makes Woods another libertarian who supports the theory of parental responsibility.

The theory of parental responsibility has radical implications. One clear implication is that abortion is incompatible with parental obligations. Therefore, if you accept the principle of enforceable parental obligations as a result of causal action, you must deny the legitimacy of abortion (at least in cases of consensual sex). Doris Gordon made this point effectively in her writing. Some libertarians have been willing to accept the principle but nonetheless refuse to accept the logical consequence on abortion- Nathaniel Branden and Stephan Kinsella are two examples of this position. In his podcast, Tom Woods not only set out the principle but also showed that he clearly understands and accepts the logical implication that abortion is indefensible.

I believe that the theory of parental responsibility is correct, so I am glad that Tom Woods agrees with this theory. For anyone who is interested, the theory has a history with roots in the work of Blackstone, Kant, Sidgwick, and others. The theory also has other radical implications which Woods might not be aware of. Here are just two as examples:

1. Both the mother and father are jointly and severally liable for their obligations (this is not true for other libertarian theories about parenting).
2. You cannot give up your parental obligations. This means that parents cannot legitimately absolve themselves of all obligation by giving up a child for adoption. It also means that gamete donation cannot be justified.