If abortion were illegal, what should the penalty for having one be?
There's an interesting home-made (I think?) documentary filmed at an anti-abortion protest. The basic question is "If abortion were illegal, what should the penalty be for having one?"
I can't embed it because it's restricted, so here's a link to it instead. (YouTube)
Some of the responses are:
- "We shouldn't put them in jail. We should pray for them."
- "I don't have an answer for that."
- "That's hard to say. [...] Depends on the state of mind of the woman."
Most of the respondents twist themselves into rhetorical knots to avoid answering the question. In the final analysis, all of them believe that it's "murder," but none of them think it should be punished like a regular murder. (Whatever you consider that to be.)
It's an interesting thought exercise. For something to be illegal, there must needs be a penalty for committing the illegal act, otherwise the law is meaningless. Perhaps they should read this Reason article, "Is Heaven Populated Chiefly by the Souls of Embryos?". It, too, is a thought-provoker for those on both sides of the abortion debate.
As a rule I am not anti-abortion. But I'm certainly not a fan of the practice, either. I think if abortion were ever outlawed again — which I don't think would ever happen — the penalty would fall on the doctors performing the abortions rather than the women actually having them. That's the way these things have historically worked, anyway. Society has no problem punishing doctors, but it seems to have a problem with throwing women in jail. One is more comfortable than the other, I suspect. But I ask, then, if the doctor is the real murderer, then shouldn't the mother also be punished as an accessory to the crime?
What're your thoughts?
[Late edit: It didn't escape me that any answers that were any more substantial may have been edited out to make a point. But I suspect that they weren't.]
[tags]abortion, law[/tags]
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