Oh, no, it's not a straw man. Thompson just told the truth.
If - and it's a very big IF - a law could be passed to outlaw abortion because in the eyes of the law it was murder - there would need to be vigorous enforcement activity. Hundreds of people would have to be arrested and incarcerated (if not thousands).
He who says A says B.
It is dishonest to tell people to vote for a Constitutional amendment but not to worry because no one will be punished.
To accomplish what you seek, you will have to tell the people what the result of your proposal will be.
In 1917, the Constitution was amended (amazingly) to criminalize a behavior that a huge majority of people did not view as criminal.
The result was predictable - and that predictable result occurred despite vigorous enforcement.
This battle cannot be won in the political arena until it is won in peoples homes and hearts.
W said that, FDT now says that, and any politician who tells you otherwise is a liar.
If the HLA could be implemented by decree, nothing would change.
And, hundreds should be! That is if one believes that abortion is the taking of a human life, which you obviously don't.
Thompson's arguments make perfect sense to people like you and others that favor keeping abortion legal. But, that doesn't make the comments any more abhorrent to pro-lifers, a group he needed to rally for him to win the nomination.
That would be 1919...And, what idiotic analogy. There is no comparison between drinking alcohol and taking the life of an innocent human being.
There is also no comparison between the level of support for banning abortion for convenience sake and for banning alcohol. The majority do and have for most of the history of the nation supported banning abortion for convenience sake. Up to 30 states would ban abortion in all but rare circumstances if given the opportunity.
Wrong. The battle can't be won until Roe is overturned. If it was, more than half the states would ban abortion for convenience sake and most others would much more severely restrict it.
And, yes, the law deters. The more the punishment, the greater the deterrent.