Evictionism, Libertarianism, and Duties of the Fetus.

This article critically examines Walter Block's evictionism, a libertarian argument that permits abortion by treating the fetus as a trespasser on the pregnant woman's body, which she may evict or kill if eviction is impossible. While evictionism assumes both the fetus and the woman have absolute self-ownership rights, the authors argue that the claim that the fetus is a trespasser is untenable because it requires the fetus to have a correlative duty to the woman to abstain from interference. Since the fetus lacks agency and cannot bear duties or act volitionally, it cannot be held strictly liable for trespass under libertarian strict liability principles. Consequently, the fetus does not forfeit its rights by residing in the woman's body, making eviction or feticidal abortion impermissible within this framework. The authors conclude that evictionism fails to provide a coherent libertarian justification for abortion.