How much jail time should she do?
As pointed out in a column by Anna Quindlen in Newsweek and on America Blog, Planned Parenthood and the National Institute for Reproductive Health have launched a provocative new campaign to ask, "How much time should she serve?" If abortions become illegal, what should be the punishment for women who have an illegal abortion?
Quindlen writes:
This question was put to a group of anti-abortion demonstrators in Libertyville, IL, which was captured on video and then, of course, uploaded to YouTube.
Andy in Harrisburg
Quindlen writes:
Nearly 20 years ago, in a presidential debate, George Bush the elder was asked this very question, whether in making abortion illegal he would punish the woman who had one. "I haven't sorted out the penalties," he said lamely. Neither, it turns out, has anyone else. But there are only two logical choices: hold women accountable for a criminal act by sending them to prison, or refuse to criminalize the act in the first place. If you can't countenance the first, you have to accept the second. You can't have it both ways.
This question was put to a group of anti-abortion demonstrators in Libertyville, IL, which was captured on video and then, of course, uploaded to YouTube.
Andy in Harrisburg
Labels: abortion, Alberto Gonzales, death penalty
posted by ACLU of Pennsylvania at 8/15/2007 09:05:00 PM
4 Comments:
Priceless!
You mean people are supposed to think about the *consequences* of passing laws like that? But that would mean they might have to personalize the issue, maybe even feel *guilty* or something!
That's just stinkin' thinkin'!
This is a GREAT campaign! And the video was great also! There are some very confused people out there carying signs.
Regardless of what you think about abortion, this video is very interesting. The way we confuse morality and legality in this society is kind of spooky. We do it all the time. We act as if "right" and "legal" are synonyms; same thing with "wrong" and "illegal". These protesters were probably not there lobbying to make abortion “illegal”, they were there to say that it’s morally “wrong”. But when asked if it should be illegal, they didn’t hesitate to say "yes, it should be illegal" - - even though they had never thought about the practical ramifications. Imagine if these folks had the ability to influence lawmakers. Oh wait! They DO have the ability to influence lawmakers! Scary.
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