(First this thread is not about "Tonald Drumpf". But the frenzy over his recent answer to this question raises what I think is an interesting inconsistency in the mainstream pro-life position.)
So if abortion is a crime, if it really is murder, the murder of an innocent helpless baby, which is how the pro-life movement wants to characterize it, then why should a woman who gets an abortion not receive a harsh punishment for it?
A woman finds out she is pregnant and decides to get an abortion. She makes plans to go to the clinic, she makes an appointment to see a doctor. Her actions are clearly premeditated. She goes to the clinic, fills out paperwork indicating her intentions, follows the doctors instructions, and she gets an abortion. And the same pro-life movement that claims this is murder claims that she should not be punished. The mere suggestion that she would receive punishment for this sends them into a fury. Why?
Isn't this incredibly condescending?
Yes, I understand that the doctor is the one that actually preforms the procedure. But he or she does so at the behest of the woman. And the pro-life movement does not even consider her an accomplice. Why is this?
Is it because they don't think that a woman is responsible for her choice? Since they don't think the woman should have the choice, perhaps they don't think that women are capable of making a choice like this. It is as if they think that women are not real moral agents, that they are not real people. The doctor is solely responsible for this act, the doctor is responsible for the woman's decision. And since the woman is not capable of making a choice the big strong men in the government must make it for her.
So if abortion is a crime, if it really is murder, the murder of an innocent helpless baby, which is how the pro-life movement wants to characterize it, then why should a woman who gets an abortion not receive a harsh punishment for it?
A woman finds out she is pregnant and decides to get an abortion. She makes plans to go to the clinic, she makes an appointment to see a doctor. Her actions are clearly premeditated. She goes to the clinic, fills out paperwork indicating her intentions, follows the doctors instructions, and she gets an abortion. And the same pro-life movement that claims this is murder claims that she should not be punished. The mere suggestion that she would receive punishment for this sends them into a fury. Why?
Isn't this incredibly condescending?
Yes, I understand that the doctor is the one that actually preforms the procedure. But he or she does so at the behest of the woman. And the pro-life movement does not even consider her an accomplice. Why is this?
Is it because they don't think that a woman is responsible for her choice? Since they don't think the woman should have the choice, perhaps they don't think that women are capable of making a choice like this. It is as if they think that women are not real moral agents, that they are not real people. The doctor is solely responsible for this act, the doctor is responsible for the woman's decision. And since the woman is not capable of making a choice the big strong men in the government must make it for her.