# If abortion is made illegal again, what should be the punishment for women having one? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 12, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633 "2014-06-12T16:20:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AnthonyElite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@AnthonyElite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnthonyElite)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/21 "2014-06-12T18:36:16Z")
> [@phouka](#): > > _IF_ abortion were illegal and a meaningful consequence were required, I would prefer any punishment focus on preventing future abortions. That means not just free birth control, but mandatory birth control - either IUD or implants for the woman and vasectomy for the man. Yes, for the man as well. Isn’t that a pretty bold assumption that the man made/had choice in the decision? And preventing people from having children is a slippery slope…ugly ugly world to live in. I am against people using abortion as a form of birth control. However, I am for freedom of choice. This premise assumes abortion equals murder, legally. I disagree staunchly. I think the punishment should be the person gets fined a yearly amount that would cover care for a homeless child. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/22 "2014-06-12T18:39:56Z")
> [@thatguyjeff](#): > > Have to take a class (couple hours tops) on proper use of contraceptives. Plus free contraceptives for life. Works for me. Hey- how about we do this for everyone? Like in middle or high school when kids start to be sexually active? I bet we’d stop more women from having (needing) abortions then! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/23 "2014-06-12T19:10:28Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Don’t fight the hypothetical. > > Really, like mentioned above the onus should be on the doctor performing the illegal act. The doctor performed the act, but the woman sat still for it. If a mother takes her toddler over to her friend’s house, and the mother offers the toddler over to her friend to be killed, is the mother complicit in her toddler’s death? Or does the entire burden rest with the mother’s friend? If abortion were made illegal again, then whatever penalties you would serve to the mother and her friend in the above scenario would seem to be appropriate penalties for a pregnant woman and the doctor who terminates her pregnancy. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/24 "2014-06-12T20:08:59Z")
> [@thatguyjeff](#): > > Have to take a class (couple hours tops) on proper use of contraceptives. Plus free contraceptives for life. I’m on board! > [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Many cities have a policy where if you have more than $X in outstanding parking fines, your car gets booted. So maybe if you rack up more than $50 in unpaid abortion tickets, you get slapped with a chastity belt until you pay up. I wouldn’t have thought I’d laugh reading this thread, but that was hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/25 "2014-06-12T20:22:53Z")
This is easy. Once apprehended and convicted, the woman is assigned a pro-life voter who supplements her income through garnished wages, enabling her to support the next pregnancy and carry it to term. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/26 "2014-06-12T20:50:58Z")
She has to keep having sex with men. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/27 "2014-06-12T20:58:22Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Really, like mentioned above the onus should be on the doctor performing the illegal act. Indeed, it is commonly stated in pro-life literature that no woman was ever prosecuted in the US for having an abortion prior to Roe v. Wade. (I have no way of assessing the accuracy of this assertion). ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/28 "2014-06-12T21:04:39Z")
Minor sanctions such as education and community service if the abortion is pre-viability but equivalent to first-degree murder if its an abortion post-viability. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/29 "2014-06-12T22:03:42Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > This. It would be an unfair and ridiculous law. I hate to have to tell you this, but it WAS illegal (:eek: I know, keep calm, take deep breaths) not that long ago. Unfair, ridiculous; didn’t matter. It was what it was, and what it was was illegal. This isn’t science fiction “what if” time. In other words, don’t fight the hypothetical. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/30 "2014-06-13T04:32:33Z")
My Mother had 8 live births. Several that did not survive. Not one of her kids was ever stupid enough to ask either parent about abortion in the family. We did discuss it & being Catholic with 2 of Moms brothers are/were priests. Mother told her brothers to shut up & sit down when they would have a brain fart and ask a silly question. As far as government intervention, she just said that she was not stupid enough to let them find out what she did or didn’t do. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/31 "2014-06-13T05:13:51Z")
I am willing to be corrected, but IIRC when abortion was illegal, either the statute did not punish the women it if it did, prosecution policies were against indictments. The aim was against abortionists and not totally unjustified considering their ilk. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/32 "2014-06-13T07:46:18Z")
For the mother Mandatory 6 month contraceptive jab. (Once a long term male contraceptive has been introduced, jack the lads should get a similar ‘punishment’) For both parents, 10 hours community service in a preschool or children’s charity, or maybe they should be assigned to help out a new mother. If sex-selection is suspected, a two hour class about how daughters (or for that matter, sons) are as good as their preferred gender. If the foetus has downs, or any other easily detected condition, they should be forced to watch a film on how Downs-afflicted people can still have rich and fulfilling lives. For the physician or surgeon, it would be appropriate to ban them from referring people for ultrasound scans for a year. Without the scans, sex-based termination and mutation-based termination would become a lot more difficult ---
**Author:** ![BDBoop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5e9695/32.png) [@BDBoop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BDBoop)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/33 "2014-06-13T07:56:10Z")
What were the fines and charges before abortion was legalized? Not that THAT worked - just curious. ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/34 "2014-06-13T08:48:07Z")
If abortion became illegal and a woman has an abortion, said woman would be sentaced to select one of the lawmakers responsible for passing the anti-choice legislation and said lawmaker would be delivered to Salam, MA for a ritual dunking. During the dunking, lawmaker must remaim under water for a minimum of 10 minutes before being resurfaced and questioned as to why the law was passed. Failure to answer this question will result in further sentancing of said woman to a minimum of 10 minutes of jubilation. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/35 "2014-06-13T09:32:25Z")
Yeah, just what was the penalty before abortion became legal in, what was it, 1972? And was it a state or federal penalty? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/36 "2014-06-13T14:14:53Z")
> [@BDBoop](#): > > What were the fines and charges before abortion was legalized? Not that THAT worked - just curious. There were some prosecutions of providers, but digging up their sentences is a bit too involved for me now. As noted above, I’m not sure that there’s any record of a woman ever being prosecuted in the US for having one. > [@Little\_Pig](#): > > Yeah, just what was the penalty before abortion became legal in, what was it, 1972? And was it a state or federal penalty? Abortion was legal in several states before Roe v. Wade; there was no federal prohibition. ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/37 "2014-06-13T14:25:27Z")
I agree with **Weeping Wyvern**. In an ideal world, I’d like to see (where possible) the correctional system to shift from emphasizing forced labor instead of incarceration, so maybe eventually a couple of years’ hard labour. ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/38 "2014-06-13T14:26:29Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > None. The onus is on the doctor providing an illegal procedure. I’d say that if abortion is made illegal, you’ll see a woman in the White House in the following election (if not this time around). Why? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/39 "2014-06-13T14:32:03Z")
> [@Little\_Pig](#): > > Yeah, just what was the penalty before abortion became legal in, what was it, 1972? And was it a state or federal penalty? The laws at issue in Roe v. Wade were Texas state laws, and they’re listed in [one of the footnotes](http://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/410/113#ZO-410_US_113n1) to the decision. There has never been a federal prohibition on abortion (though there have been a number of federal statutes designed to prohibit public funding of them.) Note that they criminalized only the conduct of the abortion _provider_: > [@](#): > > Article 1191. Abortion > > If any person shall designedly administer to a pregnant woman or knowingly procure to be administered with her consent any drug or medicine, or shall use towards her any violence or means whatever externally or internally applied, and thereby procure an abortion, he shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than two nor more than five years; if it be done without her consent, the punishment shall be doubled. By “abortion” is meant that the life of the fetus or embryo shall be destroyed in the woman’s womb or that a premature birth thereof be caused. > > Art. 1192. Furnishing the means > > Whoever furnishes the means for procuring an abortion knowing the purpose intended is guilty as an accomplice. > > Art. 1193. Attempt at abortion > > If the means used shall fail to produce an abortion, the offender is nevertheless guilty of an attempt to produce abortion, provided it be shown that such means were calculated to produce that result, and shall be fined not less than one hundred nor more than one thousand dollars. > > Art. 1194. Murder in producing abortion > > If the death of the mother is occasioned by an abortion so produced or by an attempt to effect the same it is murder. > > Art. 1196. By medical advice > > Nothing in this chapter applies to an abortion procured or attempted by medical advice for the purpose of saving the life of the mother. > > The foregoing Articles, together with Art. 1195, compose Chapter 9 of Title 15 of the Penal Code. Article 1195, not attacked here, reads: > > Art. 1195. Destroying unborn child > > Whoever shall during parturition of the mother destroy the vitality or life in a child in a state of being born and before actual birth, which child would otherwise have been born alive, shall be confined in the penitentiary for life or for not less than five years. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/40 "2014-06-13T14:37:20Z")
Force them to raise and care for a child they didn’t want, didn’t plan on having, and for which they are most likely woefully financially and/or emotionally unprepared. _That_’ll teach 'em! . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633.md?page=3)