If the Anti-Choice constituency gets its way, what should be the punishment for a woman who has an abortion?

Question

1) The death penalty

2) Time in prison or on parole (which would involve countless amounts of tax payer money)

3) Leave it between her and her God

4) Other

Answer 1

FYI...

roe v wade is the law and it has been for over a GENERATION.

it's the law, deal with it...

Answer 2

1 and 2- Anyone who would consider death penalty or jail time is either slightly unstable, or a liberal trying to manipulate by trying to categorize all pro-life conservatives as extremists.

3. It is between her and God. Regardless

4. Other Abortions ARE avoidable, people can argue about rape, incest and failed birth control but many, possibly most of these abortions are preformed on women who simply did not take the action to prevent it.

Answer 3

THAT is a VERY good question. Some jail time seems fair, since it's not exactly full-on infanticide.

Answer 4

40 lashes with a wet noodle.

Answer 5

John McCain has stated that he supports an exception for rape and incest.  I just am not sure how all other abortions are murder and these abortions are not murder.  McCain and the Republicans have far too many double standards ........

Answer 6

Personally... if a woman gets an abortion for a reason other than rape/incest/health reasons (which I still don't like but I have more sympathy for them and I understand where they are coming from more) because they didn't feel like using a condom or using the pill (or any other of the plethora of birth control out there) then I think they should have their tubes tied and never be allowed to have children of their own...

Because personally if they didn't want to take responsibility for their actions before then what is going to say that they will later?

Answer 7

4) Other - the man who got her pregnant gets "gelded"

Answer 8

Okay...trying to ignore this new trend to calling Pro-Life "Anti-choice" and dismiss it as the propaganda that it is, I'll answer your question.

Death penalty.  The whole thing comes down to life.  Its not above one's paygrade to say that a growing child in the womb is alive.  That being the case, the next factor is motive and intent, both of which are met with abortion qualifying it as a first degree murder case, which, depending on the state, could carry the death penalty.

Your premise is that everyone would consider abortion the same way you do and think its ludicrous to consider it a capital crime.  Your premise is flawed.

Answer 9

Actually the punishment should be meted out to the doctor, or other person, who performed the abortion but I suspect you knew that..

Answer 10

Theoretically, the same as killing a newborn baby.

PS  Another answer could be "whatever Scott Peterson got for killing his wife and unborn son."

Or perhaps merely the charges someone conspiring to kill would receive.

My views on abortion don't fit neatly into either the pro-life or pro-choice category, but I thought the question was a good one and deserved an answer, if only to start discussion.

PPS  I would ask if the unborn child was viable.  At one extreme, there shouldn't be a vast difference in the law a moment before a full-term child is born vs. a moment after.  (And if that's a tiny minority of cases, all the better.)  But only a moment after conception I think it's a very different picture.  Viability for me is the main criterion.

Am I trying to fudge an answer?  Maybe.  It's not a simple issue.  But I think viable babies should be saved.

Answer 11

I think the man involved should be automatically castrated, and we'll see how far the idea of "punishment" travels...

Answer 12

Whatever the crime for murder is of that respective state.

How can you be against saving the life of a live baby who was born after a failed abortion?  Which Obama is (view his Illinois voting record).

Perhaps you and he should work in a hospital and hold that baby as it clamours for breath without medical assistance and slowly dies in your arms..

Answer 13

Theoretically murder, however does that mean that a woman who miscarries is also guilty of involuntary manslaughter?

Answer 14

There should be no punishment either for the Doctor or the woman, even though abortion were made illegal. Such law would be an abomination

Answer 15

Execution

Answer 16

a pillory and flogging.  a fine old christian tradition.  hey, not that i agree with any of this, as i'm sure you know, but these folks can be rabid.

Answer 17

Don't forget the doctor and the father.

Whatever the current penalty is for manslaughter. I don't think it would count as first-degree murder because I think many women choose abortions based on emotions such as fear.

The death penalty would be anti-life. Kind of goes against why we would make abortions illegal in the first place.

Abortions cost tax payers tons of money too! Planned Parenthood gets a big chunk and the more abortions they can do, the more money they get.  

Answer 18

I hate abortion but because it is not against the law a woman should not be charged with murder-however----late term abortion-partial birth abortion should be banned because at that point no one can deny that a baby being partially born then aborted/killed=murder. The doctors who perform partial birth abortions should be charged with a crime as well as the mother but because partial birth abortions aren't illegal then they aren't legally liable just morally liable.

I think that if sonograms were performed before every abortion and the mother could see her baby she would not go through with it.