Posted on 08/16/2007 11:23:43 AM PDT by mngran
Buried among prairie dogs and amateur animation shorts on YouTube is a curious little mini-documentary shot in front of an abortion clinic in Libertyville, Ill. The man behind the camera is asking demonstrators who want abortion criminalized what the penalty should be for a woman who has one nonetheless. 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."
You have to hand it to the questioner; he struggles manfully. "Usually when things are illegal there's a penalty attached," he explains patiently. But he can't get a single person to be decisive about the crux of a matter they have been approaching with absolute certainty.
A new public-policy group called the National Institute for Reproductive Health wants to take this contradiction and make it the centerpiece of a national conversation, along with a slogan that stops people in their tracks: how much time should she do? If the Supreme Court decides abortion is not protected by a constitutional guarantee of privacy, the issue will revert to the states. If it goes to the states, some, perhaps many, will ban abortion. If abortion is made a crime, then surely the woman who has one is a criminal. But, boy, do the doctrinaire suddenly turn squirrelly at the prospect of throwing women in jail.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
For the doctor: 25 years to life - it is vulgar premediation on the doctor’s part. For scum like Tiller the Baby Killer in Kansas, there is a special place in hell for people like that.
As to the mother, that’s more difficult as it depends on the circumstances. If the abortion is due to the convenience of the mother, the punishment should be severe (25+ years). If it is a case of (PROVEN rape - not just saying it), 30 days might be approptiate.
ANY woman who has a second abortion for ANY reason: life.
How do the pro-abortion advocates know that there were millions and millions of women who had illegal abortions? How did they “catch” them?
Again, the act of self mutilation or attempted suicide is something that any of us can do. How do we “catch” the people who do this? How do we treat them?
>> Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too. The woman has to live with herself for the rest of her life, the doctor gets whatever a murder charge carries in that state. That will dry up the supply of people who will do abortions pretty quickly.
... as would lesser prison time (and charges) for the doctor, coupled with a huge fine and loss of medical license.
The “elephant in the living room” is this: abortion is big business. HUGE business. Greed more than ideology has destroyed the spirit of the hippocratic oath for the medical profession.
The Texas statute overtunned by Roe, V. Wade only punished the abortionist. Ironically, only the abortionist who joined his case with Roe’s got relief.
In truth, many studies show that women who have had abortions have life long mental disorders stemming from their abortions.
Other than rape, a woman chooses to engage in activity to become pregnant. Adult women are not children, and are capable of making rational decisions. Rape would be a mitigating factor, presumedly.
Look, the reality is that chance that women will be put in jail for having an abortion is nil. However, it is a logical contradiction that somehow if a woman who is 39 weeks pregnant hires a doctor to perform a partial birth abortion she should be off the hook but if she hires someone to murder her day old newborn she should serve 20 years in prison. It means that despite the rhetoric, even most pro-lifers do not see the unborn as having the same status as those who are born.
Next time you read about a serial murderer or a thief, think of your son.
We do have to make laws that are applicable to everyone’s son and daughter - and with a “there but for the grace of G_d go I” attitude - both for the victim(s) and the guilty. However, we shouldn’t decide on the enforcement of law on a case-by-case or emotional basis.
Well...I don't have time to look it up now, but I believe that might vary from state to state...
>> It’s an obvious trap. Even most ardent pro-lifers wouldn’t seek a penalty against the woman.
It’s a ploy by the abortionists, but it’ll be short lived. Discussions like this one will help... and next time they try it, the protestor with a camera suddenly shoved in his face WILL have an answer.
On another note, I had forgotten just how much I detest Anna Quindlen and her smug elite self-righeousness.
I think it’s best for the pro life cause to think of the women as victims. That way it’s not us vs everyone that’s ever had an abortion. It’s us vs everyone that pushes abortion. The victims then become possible recruits to our side.
How Much Jail Time?
***As much as it takes. They can gobsmack that.
The penalty would then fall under the purview of the applicable murder statute (1st degree, 2d degree, manslaughter etc.)
Oh, and one more thing I forgot. The guy who kills a newborn when he’s drunk driving & hits a pregnant woman will get some jail time. How much? So, whatever jail time he’s getting...
newborn = Preborn
typing too fast
the apparent contradiction or whatever it is the author believes has been exposed doesn’t exist. The demonstrators are far more interested in preventing abortion than in prosecuting women.
But there are only two logical choices: hold women accountable for a criminal act by sending them to prison, or refuse to criminalize the act in the first place. If you can’t countenance the first, you have to accept the second. You can’t have it both ways.
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What a load, the logical choice would be to hold the doctor and woman accountable. I have no problem doing that. The penalties would be determined on a case by case basis just as any other crime. I have a very hard time believing that no one could answer the question posed. I call BULL!
Or just take a visit to one of the populated blue states like CA were abortion will remain legal (forever)
Or just take a visit to one of the populated blue states like CA were abortion will remain legal (forever)
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