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How do you think we should punish it?

It's just something I've been thinking of lately. Like, I don't think abortion should be treated the same as murder. While yes, I consider it to be morally equivalent, there are extenuating circumstances; For one, they don't think it's murder. And we have laws that protect the mentally disabled from feeling the full punishment of their crimes, generally speaking, for that very reason; They don't realize that what they did was wrong.

I don't think it should be just a slap on the wrist, but what I'm trying to say is, we shouldn't be giving the death penalty to someone who is an abortionist and has probably performed hundreds of abortions, whereas we probably should seek the death penalty if it was a serial killer killing hundreds of born humans.

Thoughts?

Ninja Post!

I believe a version of manslaughter would be the best option for a punishment. It would be a crime after all, it's not, like you mentioned, going to be punished with a slap on the wrist. Also there would be the doctors risking their medical licenses to perform these procedures which I doubt the most of them would. Now for medical emergencies, that is a known alternative because you're risking both lives, if the child is going to perish and risk the mother, etc etc abortions should be allowed.

HY-AH! *Smoke Bomb*

Hm well it WOULD be the intent to kill which is pure Murder in the First Degree, but again that's extremely harsh. But you know it's a few months between a legal procedure and infant homicide so!

/vanish

Here's my take on that, though.

It's not about convenience to them. Also, I'm curious, why do you make rape and incest exceptions? It doesn't actually change the fetus from a baby to a blob to you, does it? I can see life-threatening because then it's a life vs a life and it becomes self defense.

Anyway.

I'm more along the lines of manslaughter for the abortionist. If a fetus was equal to an older child to something like 80 or 90% of the population maybe more, but given that there's a distinction for so many people (even if it's not the majority) then socially it doesn't make sense for it to be full-blown murder. Also, banned from practicing medicine ever again? Don't forget most illegal abortionists had medical training, and many (maybe even the majority but I don't remember and it's not like there are records of the people who didn't get caught) were actually doctors. The same thing would happen again.

If you've never been in a situation where you think you might be pregnant, then you can't imagine how these women feel. They believe the lies that pregnancy is a horrible condition and that it will ruin their lives forever and everyone will hate them and they'll never graduate college and they'll die from some horrible complication. These women feel like they are defending their lives!!

The mother should recieve counseling for a first offense. If it is discovered the woman did it due to societal pressures then work needs to be done to help her change her situation so she never feels like she has to kill her child again. Second offense, she should have a choice of communitty service or jail time for a few months. The service would be in a women's clinic (obviously not one that provided abortion since it would be illegal) or a pediatric ward, or a pregnancy ward... you catch my drift. Third offense, jail for premeditated manslaughter.

The doctor should have his license revoked for a few months, the "clinic" he runs fully investigated and all abortion tools confiscated and destroyed. Once his practice is clean he can return to work. Second offense, license revoked permanently. End of story. Third offense? Jail for premeditated murder.

a lil off topic but i like ur pro choice siggy.

Honestly, it's something that would be very hard to prosecute, if a woman had an abortion and made it look like a miscarriage. I don't think that there would really be any way to gather the necessary evidence, if it was an abortion pill, unless you found someone who sold her the pill. In which case, there you go.

But I don't think there would be a big problem of women who miscarry being prosecuted.

Not her first method, no, but most abortions are a form of birth control. Considering that rape and incest are something like 1% of abortions, and making the assumption that laws would allow for abortions for legitimate medical reasons, almost all abortions would be for birth control reasons.

No, you could definitely prosecute the mother as well. Accessory to murder, or accomplice, or what have you. As long as she didn't turn back at the last second, and as long as she wasn't forced into it by someone else, she was definitely part of the planning and carrying out of the crime, in this hypothetical future.

I still don't think that the punishment should be the same as for regular murder, because the intent is different. Especially for the mother, who may not be thinking clearly for a variety of reasons. But I absolutely don't think that the mother should be able to get away scott free either, in this hypothetical future.

Sorry I'm not likely actually getting active here again, but I did want to drop in a bit.

Actually abortion IS used as a contraceptive far more than it should be! Women use it because they never thought they'd get pregnant or never thought their other one would fail.

As for punishing it's VERY important to assert that we cannot prosecute anyone who performed or had an abortion while they are legal. Even if they are later banned!
Abortions to save the life of the mother should never be illegal and thus will never be considered a crime either.

As for punishing the mother and abortionist after abortions become illegal, I definitely think that both would be guilty of murder. The mother ought to be prosecuted to at least some extent. Although it's a compromise that might have to be made to get abortion illegal. There would be much public outcry if mothers were prosecuted for having abortions, and it's far more important to cut the clinics off from public funding and support and try to shut them down by making the act illegal, than it is to punish people who went and got them.