Once in a while, we run across a situation where two people have opposing claims that can’t really be resolved through compromise or adjudication or mediation.
We used to have a mechanism for dealing with this kind of situation: the duel. We’ve since outlawed the duel in favor of other resolution mechanisms, but it might be time to bring it back because there are some situations where its replacements just can’t get the job done.
In particular, could we apply the mechanism of the duel to the situation of the unwanted pregnancy?
Note that a duel doesn’t have to be fair. In fact, in most situations, it won’t be fair. One of the parties will be better with a sword, a spear, a pistol, a poison dart, an airplane-mounted machine gun, a phaser, or whatever the choice of weapon is. That’s why the challenged party traditionally gets the choice of weapon.
A duel just has to give both parties a sporting chance. It has to present the possibility of real harm — even death — to both of them.
There are two obvious problems that have to be overcome. First, what kinds of weapons could be used by an unborn child? Second, how would the unborn child express his choice of weapon?
But maybe we can finesse those questions by embracing fairness instead of dismissing it.
That is, the fairest possible duel would involve tossing a coin, something that depends on luck rather than skill. Heads, you shoot yourself; tails, I shoot myself. At its heart, a duel isn’t really about the exercise of skill. It’s about the willingness to accept responsibility, to display honor.
So we could do this for unwanted pregnancies. Both parties show up with their seconds in a remote field at dawn, where a neutral referee flips a coin. Heads, the pregnancy is terminated. Tails, the pregnancy continues — which, it’s always worth pointing out, is something that could end up killing the woman.
Note that a coin toss (50%) is halfway between ‘on demand’ (100%) and ‘under no circumstances’ (0%). The mother has to accept a substantial risk; the unborn baby at least gets a sporting chance at survival.
Until we develop technology that will let a woman evict an unborn baby from her body without also killing it — that is, to terminate the pregnancy without terminating the life — this may be the best we can hope for. You want to get an abortion? You have to submit to a duel with the baby first.
I know I know: Like a lot of ideas, this one seems crazy — until you compare it to the other ideas we’ve tried.
