In regards to abortion I realize arguing right to privacy is not an enumerated right was weak. Thats why I buttressed this position with a second argument about how the conservatives on this topic are fighting for the child’s right to life. Oddly, if i had to give priority to rights, I would probably land on the right to life over the right to privacy, but really having neither does not sound very appealing. However, the fact that one group is fighting for the individual right to life while the other group is fighting for the individual right to privacy means neither group comes out ahead in defending individual rights count.

In your revision i still see the conservatives coming out more in favor of individual rights because they defend economic rights. However if we were to split the two political groups into sub groups each I think we can probably agree. The more religious right side of conservatism is much more into violating individual rights then the more economic\libertarian side.

It might be true that democrats can be separated into two groups. The liberal group has an abysmal track record defending economic rights but a solid record defending civil rights. I’m not sure what the other sub group of democrats looks like. Traditionally they used to support strong state rights. They were also the ones that supported separate but equal laws.

Ultimately, the economic conservative\libertarian has done the best job of defending individual rights. I think a strong argument can be made that liberals come in second over the religious conservatives, but the problem here is that religious groups fought just as hard for civil rights in the sixties. In matters of abortion both groups fight for different individual rights. But what puts liberal ahead is their valiant effort to defend the rights of homosexuals.

Lastly, the argument that most conservatives are fully interested in the government leaving people alone is misguided. Many conservatives are happy to hear that the government is funding their pet religious project, and it isn’t as though the Bush republicans didn’t do a damn good job of expanding government power. What you really mean when you talk about “conservatives” is “libertarians”. The only thing is that conservatives are more in line with the policies you’re interested in because the political spectrum has been moving in the liberal direction for a while now.

Abortion will also remain legal through appropriate channels as it serves it’s purpose for our country. While you might hear it come up every now and again in the news, it is a far cry from the real issues facing the average american voter.