probably the great majority of abortions would continue to go unreported and unprosecuted; but the State would, at least, have the authority to bring prosecution in those cases where enough evidence of the crime is reported to allow a prosecution to occur
Doesn't the prospect of selective prosecution scare you? It bothers me a lot, because it invites blackmail or capricious prosecution.
I'm approaching the question from my perspective that a bad law, an unenforceable law is worse than no law at all. Morally, I'm as pro-life as anyone on this board. I just don't see how to make it work from a Constitutional Law standpoint nor from a policy standpoint.
The same way that laws against murder are enforced now. If sufficient hard evidence -- like, say, a body in a dumpster -- is reported to police, detectives will be dispatched to investigate whether or not a crime has occurred.
Would the police review medical charts to ensure doctors didn't assist in abortion?
Only if there were sufficient evidence to persuade a sitting judge to issue detectives a warrant for such investigation. You know, like in a regular murder investigation?
How would you keep a savvy girl from taking a massive dose of progesterone?
I don't imagine you could.
And savvy wife-abusers are able to keep Sallie-Mae from talking about "hubby gittin' a lil temper up"; but we still keep spousal abuse illegal, and dispatch detectives to investigate where there is hard evidence.
And what about the hapless, desperate girl who decides to use a coat hanger?
Mostly a myth, even pre-Roe.
The vast majority of abortions performed pre-Roe were performed by licensed physicians who liked to score some extra cash. Occasionally, however, one of them would slip up and leave a bag of dead babies in a dumpster, and they would be caught and prosecuted. Thus, even though most abortions went unreported and unprosecuted, society was still able to maintain at least a modicum of legal protection for unborn children, as well as maintain a strong social stigma favoring adoption and other non-violent alternatives.