I responded that abortion was never illegal since murderers were never punished for their crimes.
As for the idea that history proves anything about Pandora's boxes, the government has gotten far more meddlesome in the recent past. In order to simply travel from one city to another, the government obliges me to show an ID card, waylays me and forces me to submit to groping by strangers. This in the name of defending me (something it will not allow me to do). Forty years ago, this would have been inconcievable.
This is a false contention. Abortion was illegal in all 50 states at one time or another, and classified as a felony. Very few abortionists were prosecuted because evidence was very hard to produce. But there certainly are records of abortionists being prosecuted.
However, contrary to Mr. Lallier's "Pandoras Box" fears, in a 1983 study of 200 years of legal history, the American Center for Bioethics found no evidence of a woman ever being prosecuted as an "accomplice" in abortion. There are cases in which accused abortionists convinced the court to recognize women as acomplices, but no prosecutions followed.
In summary, when abortions were classed as felonies, none of the scenarios proposed by Mr. Lallier occured. Contrary to your assertion, abortionists were prosecuted and punished, but only when evidence could be produced.
As for the idea that history proves anything about Pandora's boxes, the government has gotten far more meddlesome in the recent past.
If you believe this means we should legalize felonies, I'm afraid I'll have to simply disagree. Even radical libertarians believe a proper role of government is the defense of the rights of its citizens. The problem you describe is out of control law enforcement - not the things that are illegal themselves. In other words, even if the liberals are right and Mumia was railroaded, legalizing murder is not a proper solution.