How much jail time?
A recent story from Newsweek focuses on a video shot of abortion protesters being asked the question: okay, if abortion’s illegal, what should the punishment be for the women?
You have rarely seen people look more gobsmacked. It’s as though the guy has asked them to solve quadratic equations. Here are a range of responses: “I’ve never really thought about it.” “I don’t have an answer for that.” “I don’t know.” “Just pray for them.”
The simple extension of making abortion illegal is that those who get them should be punished. Apparently this corollary has never been considered, by at least those protesters on the video, and I’m sure, many other anti-abortion advocates. The questioner does an excellent job.
What’s interesting is that although they don’t ask the question, I think most anti-choice people would be happy to throw strict penalties at any doctor who performs an abortion procedure. Who cares that these doctors risk their personal safety to ensure the safety of many women may otherwise go and have an abortion illegally if a safe and legal option was not available?
It’s amazing to me that there are people who think that if it’s illegal people won’t do it. (Have they seen our overcrowded prison system?) Back when abortion wasn’t legal people still sought out those who would perform them, and women were often were left unfertile or worse, dead. There becomes a point where we have to stop living in the ideal world and start accepting the truths of the real world.
Shauna
August 11th, 2007
11:13 am