If abortion is made illegal, what should the punishment be for those who get an abortion and those who perform the abortion?

[Holly3278]

Hey everyone. If abortion is made illegal, what then should the punishment be for those who get an abortion or seek an abortion and what should the punishment be for the person who performs the abortion or prescribes the abortion pills? I ask this because I think it would be rather useless to outlaw abortion but yet refuse to punish the offenders against the law. If we didn’t enforce the law then what good would the law do?

 

[Dan_Daly]

Hey everyone. If abortion is made illegal, what then should the punishment be for those who get an abortion or seek an abortion and what should the punishment be for the person who performs the abortion or prescribes the abortion pills? I ask this because I think it would be rather useless to outlaw abortion but yet refuse to punish the offenders against the law. If we didn’t enforce the law then what good would the law do?

I’d say the same as any other murder.

Pax and God bless.

 

[FightingFat]

I’d say the same as any other murder.

Pax and God bless.

 

[Holly3278]

I’d say the same as any other murder.

Pax and God bless.

That is what I would say. So if someone gets or seeks an abortion or if someone performs an abortion, they should probably get life imprisonment right?

 

[PiousTemplar]

Yes, but more leniency for the first couple of months/years, because most people have been practically indoctrinated in the secular view.

 

[Kaninchen]

The problem with harsh penalties would be getting juries to convict.

 

[FallenLeaf]

I agree that those who performed abortions if they were illegal should be treated harshly. But, as someone who has counselled women, post-abortion, and seen the terrible damage it does (and knowing that often these women were pressurised, or decieved into believing that it was thier “only choice”, often by family members, and often at a young age) I feel that to imprison a woman regardless of her circumstances would be wrong.

Women who have had abortions suffer mentally, physially, emotionally and spiritually, and they need love, help and prayers. They are very often vulnerable to begin with, and I think that we need to respond to them with love and compassion, and a message of hope and forgiveness which leads them to repentance and healing.

 

[Elena_26]

I agree that those who performed abortions if they were illegal should be treated harshly. But, as someone who has counselled women, post-abortion, and seen the terrible damage it does (and knowing that often these women were pressurised, or decieved into believing that it was thier “only choice”, often by family members, and often at a young age) I feel that to imprison a woman regardless of her circumstances would be wrong.

Women who have had abortions suffer mentally, physially, emotionally and spiritually, and they need love, help and prayers. They are very often vulnerable to begin with, and I think that we need to respond to them with love and compassion, and a message of hope and forgiveness which leads them to repentance and healing.

Thank you for posting this. I think people forget that these women are human beings whom God loves. They are often uninformed, and are victims themselves of the bigger picture. They have often been so hurt by others that they can’t even see God. The abortionists inflict more abuse on these women, who have already been abused in ways that most of us can’t imagine. I know, because I work with children, some of which have been abused by a parent they trust. These girls have pain in their eyes at such a young age, that you feel heartbroken. I think this is a side that is often ignored by people. These girls are the ones who end up in abortatoriums. Something must be done before it goes to that level. They are not at fault…

 

[MtnDwellar]

I’d say the same as any other murder.

Pax and God bless.

Most people do not want to see women put behind bars for any length of time, let alone life in prison without parole. Such laws will never pass. People realize that abortion is a personal decision and do not feel that the women are a threat to society. The women will not be prosecuted. There will probably be an opportunity to arrest the women. The threat of prosecution can be used to compel the women to testify against the abortionists. The women in general will not be arrested. The practitioner will be fined and temporarily suspended from medical practice for initial offenses. The punishment will increase for repeat offenders.

 

[mdgspencer]

I presume that any punishment would be the same as when it abortion was illegal in the US. It was illegal right up to 1972. Women committing an abortion were not imprisoned or otherwise treated harshly. I was already an adult when abortion was made legal by the Supreme Court, and as far as I am aware, they were not punished by the law. Abortion doctors were punished, which was enough to prevent it.

 

[cargau]

I agree that those who performed abortions if they were illegal should be treated harshly. But, as someone who has counselled women, post-abortion, and seen the terrible damage it does (and knowing that often these women were pressurised, or decieved into believing that it was thier “only choice”, often by family members, and often at a young age) I feel that to imprison a woman regardless of her circumstances would be wrong.

Women who have had abortions suffer mentally, physially, emotionally and spiritually, and they need love, help and prayers. They are very often vulnerable to begin with, and I think that we need to respond to them with love and compassion, and a message of hope and forgiveness which leads them to repentance and healing.

I could make the same argument for someone who commited the murder of someone on this side of the womb. They may need help dealing with the mental, emotional and spiritual pain they have inflicted on themselves.

Since abortion has been legal for so long, however, it would be difficult to impose punishment on those who procure or perform abortions. In this regard, there is a big distinction between abortion and other forms of homocide.

I believe making abortion illegal would send a moral message that, as a society, we do not condone or sanction abortion. That alone would be a huge step forward. There would be no more public funding for abortion and insurance companies would no longer cover the procedure. Licenses and permits for abortion facilities would no longer be granted. And, fines would be imposed for those professionals performing abortions. Eventually, the penalty can be increased as time passes and outrage grows.

Think of the penalties on the books today for hate crimes against gays and blacks. There was a time when anyone who commited these agregious crimes were given nothing more than a wink. Today, a perpetrator can be imprisoned for many years.

We desperately need the outrage…

 

[Warrenton]

I’d say the same as any other murder.

Pax and God bless.

No, because one cannot know whether the fetus would have lived, or in many cases, whether it was alive at the time of the abortion. So there would be a failure of proof. On several levels, there is a distinction between abortion and murder.

we are not speaking about distinctions of morality, but of law and proof.

If abortion were illegal, it should be punished as a misdemeanor. I a year in jail proves insufficient to deter the conduct, then the legislature could consider enhancing the penalty.

Remember, once abortion becomes illegal, it will per se outside the scope of legitimate medicine. The effect of that will be that any woman undergoing the procedure can sue the doctor for malpractice. A few of such verdicts, which will probably not be covered by insurance, will make doctors very reluctant to perform the procedure.

The penalties for performing an abortion should depend on whether the person is a physician. If the person is, and can defend the decision under the ethics rules governing the profession, then it should be a misdemeanor. If the person is not a doctor, then the act should be punished as a felony, the severity of which depends on the existence of aggravating factors. The maximum punishment should be around five years. If the abortionist causes the death of the mother, or serious injury, then existing laws regarding manslaughter, 2d degree murder, malicious wounding are already in place.

The problem with making the penalties harsh is that the defendants are going to be overwhelmingly female and young, lacking in support and money. There exist serious problems with enforcement and privacy. If the state begins locking up 20 year old young women for life, the courts will strike down the law and the process of defending the right to life will be set back 40 years.

It is well for Christians to remember: no punishment will bring back the millions lives already lost. “Vengeance is mine.” This is an area where compassion in the law is an absolute requirement of a civilized society.

 

[Warrenton]

Think of the penalties on the books today for hate crimes against gays and blacks. There was a time when anyone who commited these agregious crimes were given nothing more than a wink. Today, a perpetrator can be imprisoned for many years.

This is not true with regards the criminal justice system as a whole. There were cases in which local juries acquitted white Klansmen being prosecuted by federal prosecutors for race crimes, but those verdicts were political statements that had as much to do with the peoples’ understanding of democracy as with race per se.

The hate crime laws are bad, because they put the focus on the victim instead of the criminal and the crime and create different classes of victims. This fosters the exact inequality the laws purport to combat.

 

[Muze]

Hey everyone. If abortion is made illegal, what then should the punishment be for those who get an abortion or seek an abortion and what should the punishment be for the person who performs the abortion or prescribes the abortion pills? I ask this because I think it would be rather useless to outlaw abortion but yet refuse to punish the offenders against the law. If we didn’t enforce the law then what good would the law do?

The answer to the question is quite complicate, just as is the question when someone kills another person in the law today. There are a varity of aggravating and mitigating factors, as I imagine there would be with respect to abortion.

Aboriton doctors would certainly be treated most harshly, as they are profiting as a killer for hire would.

Mothers would probably have some mitigating factors, and be treated like mothers who kill their infant newborns.

 

[JimG]

I agree that those who performed abortions if they were illegal should be treated harshly. But, as someone who has counselled women, post-abortion, and seen the terrible damage it does (and knowing that often these women were pressurised, or decieved into believing that it was thier “only choice”, often by family members, and often at a young age) I feel that to imprison a woman regardless of her circumstances would be wrong.

Women who have had abortions suffer mentally, physially, emotionally and spiritually, and they need love, help and prayers. They are very often vulnerable to begin with, and I think that we need to respond to them with love and compassion, and a message of hope and forgiveness which leads them to repentance and healing.

I agree with this. Women were not punished by the law for having abortions prior to 1973. Abortionists were. Even today, there are few physicians who perform abortions as a part of their practice. Pro-choicers complain about the shortage of abortionists. Penalties ought to be directed towards abortionists, not women.

 

[anp1215]

I agree with this. Women were not punished by the law for having abortions prior to 1973. Abortionists were. Even today, there are few physicians who perform abortions as a part of their practice. Pro-choicers complain about the shortage of abortionists. Penalties ought to be directed towards abortionists, not women.

I agree with this.

 

[Spirithound]

Hey everyone. If abortion is made illegal, what then should the punishment be for those who get an abortion or seek an abortion and what should the punishment be for the person who performs the abortion or prescribes the abortion pills?

If the mother herself were to be punished, the charge could not be more severe than that of infanticide (where that offense is on the books). The provider-of-abortions can legitimately be said to be premeditative in his actions, thus 1st degree murder. If someone other than the mother were to pay for the abortion, he could also be charged, perhaps with contracting a murder.

I try not to harbour illusions that this is all going to fall out of the sky tomorrow. The formulation and imposition of these penalties can only come about after society in the majority has come around to their senses.

 

[Jaypeeto4]

This is simply amazing.

A woman who tells a lie on a mortgage application or something,
can be locked away for decades.
Kill your infant via abortion, and everyone calls for compassion
and no penalty, or else penalty only for the one peforming the act.

Incredible.
The nearly 40-year legality of Abortion has caused
even good, orthodox Catholics to lose perspective of what
is REALLY “seriously” wrong. Abortion is just about the
most serious deadly offense against the Laws of the Lord that anyone
could EVER deliberately commit. Much more serious than any other
crime on most countries’s lawbooks except direct homicide itself of a post-birth person.

 

[JimG]

This is simply amazing.

A woman who tells a lie on a mortgage application or something,
can be locked away for decades.
Kill your infant via abortion, and everyone calls for compassion
and no penalty, or else penalty only for the one peforming the act.

Incredible.
The nearly 40-year legality of Abortion has caused
even good, orthodox Catholics to lose perspective of what
is REALLY “seriously” wrong. Abortion is just about the
most serious deadly offense against the Laws of the Lord that anyone
could EVER deliberately commit. Much more serious than any other
crime on most countries’s lawbooks except direct homicide itself of a post-birth person.

Bellieve me, people who lie on their mortgage application are never locked up. Mortgage brokers might be prosecuted if they actively solicited fraud, but ordinary borrowers, never.

Even before 1973, penalties for abortion were directed against abortionists, not women. If you wish to seek harsh penalties against women for abortion, abortion will never be abolished.

 

[Warrenton]

Kill your infant via abortion, and everyone calls for compassion
and no penalty, or else penalty only for the one peforming the act.
Much more serious than any other
crime on most countries’s lawbooks except direct homicide itself of a post-birth person.

The problem with prosecuting the mother was that abortion, strictly speaking, was not homicide. Under the common law, one could not prove whether a fetus would be viable or not therfore it cannot be known whether at the precise time of the alleged killing, if the fetus were living.

It is similar to an arson/felony murder case - the state must be able to prove how the victims actually died. It is not enough to count the dead people and charge the arsonist.
Why? Because one of the alleged victims could have died from other causes.

If a fetus has the same rights as a born human being, then there would be criminal liability and civil liability for virtually everything that affects that person. That is unworkable, and requires us to speculate regarding whether the fetus will even live. Conceptually, the pregnant mother could be charged for not wearing a seatbelt before the fetus were even born, on some theory that an accident could endanger the life or well being of the unborn child.

The law, like all things human, has limitations. Punishing mothers for abortion pushes at the limitations of secular law. It isn’t really about misplaced compassion, rather, about respecting the limits of what is provable.