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http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/21603Again, we’re not talking about the doctor who might perform an abortion; we’re talking about the penalty for a woman who has an abortion.
For if abortion is murder, from a purely legal standpoint, is the decision to have one tantamount to premeditated murder?
Should a woman who has an abortion face the same penalties as someone who kills a child already born?
Will it be a felony of the first degree? How many years in prison are we talking about? Indeed, if the punishment is to fit the crime, and the crime is murder, might women who have an abortion be subject to a life sentence — or death?
And what of those who know the woman is aborting? Might they be charged as accessories?
To be fair, not even the most rabid opponents of abortion have suggested this. But there is a reason for that: They realize that a penalty fitting their view of this “crime” may well be considered too extreme by the public, and could undermine their drive to ban the procedure in the first place.
But too light a penalty may seem hypocritical, given their view that abortion is murder.
And so, like Toomey, they would rather put off these questions until it’s too late to consider them as part of the whole equation.
All the more reason to demand the answers now.
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