Those who vehemently oppose abortion steadfastly claim that abortion is “murder.” They want to make it illegal for any woman to have an abortion.
Therefore, it seems fair to ask anti-abortionists a simple hypothetical question. Assume that we changed the law and that all abortions were illegal. Under that scenario, how would you punish women who committed “murder” by having abortions?”
What do you get when you combine a camcorder, a simple question and a group of fervent anti-abortionists? You get a fascinating set of answers.
Where are all of the unflinching statements that the women who have abortions have thus committed murder and that they should all be punished as murderers? There were no such answers.
Why all the hedging and squirming? Is it possible that abortion is not really the equivalent of murder? Even in the hearts and minds of those who claim to know for certain that it is “murder”? Assuming that abortion were made illegal, why are so many anti-abortionists so willing to allow a bunch of female murderers walk free without without being penalized under the law? Especially when those who committed the “murder” killed “babies,” allegedly with deliberation and premeditation?
This January 2008 video was produced by At Center Network, “a project of the Northbrook Peace Committee, Inc., a group that works for justice and nonviolent resolution of conflicts.”
Bettie Bowers irreverently interprets the bible regrading abortion:
Amazing! These folks spend years campaigning against legal abortion, yet never give a thought to the consequences.
Grumpy: This was not the first time I ran across protestors who claimed that abortion is “murder” but didn’t want to punish the women who have abortions for committing “murder.” http://dangerousintersection.org/2009/09/28/excuse-me-my-mortality-is-showing-meditations-on-life-and-death/
I’ve said this before (somewhere) but the ProLife Movement by and large wants nothing to do with legal punishments. What they want in their heart of hearts is for abortion to simply go away. They know intuitively that if legislation is passed making it a felony, then it will end up in the courts again, and if that happens, it will NEVER just go away. And next time, they will lose. Massively.
Mark: I believe you are correct that the so-called pro-life movement doesn’t actually have a plan for what to do about the women who violate the law. They are making abortion difficult and expensive, however, through hundreds of state laws, which take money and effort to overturn even when they are clearly illegal pursuant to federal common law (Roe v Wade).
The irony is that those who are anti-abortion also tend to be anti-birth control and anti-government. They are the just say no folks, and they are encouraging the births of hundreds of thousands of unwanted children at the same time that they are decimating the ability of the government to step in to make sure these children have decent living conditions, including a decent education. This will continue to come back and haunt them, as indicated by Freakonomics. http://www.freakonomics.com/2005/05/15/abortion-and-crime-who-should-you-believe/