Christopher O. Tollefsen writing at Public Discourse:
But two classes of protection deserve to take priority among the state’s ends. The first and absolute priority is the protection of all human beings within the state’s borders from violence and assault. Such protections are clearly among the essential reasons for a state’s very existence: that human beings, left to their own individual devices, cannot adequately provide in fair and coordinated ways for their own protection generates a need for a state authority charged with the duty of protection. What must be noted is that this obligation on the part of a just state extends to all human beings; to discriminate on the basis of some other quality such as age or quality of life is arbitrary and unfair.
