The Boomer Contradiction on Children's Rights

An AI narration of the article 'The Boomer Contradiction on Children's Rights' by Jake Desyllas.

Since the 1960s the West has settled on a curious pair of beliefs about children: that they have no rights at all before birth, and strong, enforceable rights the moment after it. Most people hold both positions at once and feel no strain. Jake Desyllas argues that the strain is real, and that it cannot be relieved by good intentions. Any principle robust enough to grant a newborn rights reaches back before birth; any principle that denies rights to the unborn reaches forward to the newborn, the infant, and sometimes the older child. He shows one prominent libertarian philosopher openly admitting he selects his premises to reach the answers he already wants — and sets out the four positions available to anyone willing to confront the contradiction rather than avoid it.

First published at https://www.jakedesyllas.com/blog/2025/9/15/the-boomer-contradiction-on-childrens-rights on 15 September 2025.