# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/41 "2014-06-13T15:24:37Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > If this law did pass it would probably be passed by religious conservatives so they would probably want to show the woman how precious and important babies are. So if a woman performed her own abortion I would think the punishment would be something like community service along the lines of helping out at a daycare center or a hospital nursery. I can’t imagine the religious conservatives putting a perceived Child-Murderer to work in a day-care centre. Maybe infection, and other health-risks inherrent in back-street abortions, would be a sufficient punishment for the crime. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/42 "2014-06-13T16:37:20Z")
I don’t know why I find it so hard to believe and accept that there are people right here on this very message board who would read _The Handmaids Tale_ and think to themselves “What a utopia!” and yet, here they are. ---
**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 13, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/43 "2014-06-13T18:04:44Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I don’t know why I find it so hard to believe and accept that there are people right here on this very message board who would read _The Handmaids Tale_ and think to themselves “What a utopia!” and yet, here they are. Please tell me why any pro-lifer would find the society described in Handmaid utopic anymore than a supporter of the legalization of drugs would find _Brave New World_ utopic or a supporter of the government ownership of major industries would find _1984_ utopic. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/44 "2014-06-13T18:15:09Z")
This is one reason that, while I oppose abortion on religious grounds, I’m not in favor of it being made illegal. You can’t punish doctors who perform them, because that will just result in women getting abortions without doctors, which is worse. Punishing the mother is problematic as well; I have compassion for women who feel like abortion is the only or best option available to them and I also don’t like the idea of punishing people for actions that many or most people don’t believe is wrong, even if I think it is. If that’s fighting the hypothetical and I have to name a punishment that would be appropriate, I’d say some kind of required class on family planning/contraception. Kind of like when we make reckless drivers attend a safe driving class for a day. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/45 "2014-06-13T18:17:20Z")
If you’re going to be so idiotic as to make it illegal, you might as well go all the way and hang the women. Actually we should burn them at the stake as heretics. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/46 "2014-06-13T18:19:50Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > While I think it should stimulate conversation as many people will feel interested in explaining their pick, I can’t say it represents a good-faith effort to present a wide range of choices. Given that the central argument of the pro life movement is that fetuses are humans, and that terminating one is an act of murder, I don’t think it’s necessarily unfair to assume that pro life advocates would support punishing abortion to the same degree we punish various forms of homicide. **Weeping Wyvern** ’s practical considerations aside, how do you justify such a light sentence for abortion, from a pro life view point? ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/47 "2014-06-13T18:29:57Z")
Death penalty. I think after they see a few of their wives, sisters and daughters in the gas chamber the pro-lifers will have a change of opinion and we would be able to legalize it again. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/48 "2014-06-13T18:45:15Z")
The woman should have that infant taken from her, and not allowed to have another baby for at least 9 months. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/49 "2014-06-13T19:32:08Z")
A one-dollar fine, payable in installments of a penny a year. ---
**Author:** ![HipGnosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/76d3ee/32.png) [@HipGnosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HipGnosis)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/50 "2014-06-13T20:01:06Z")
I’m shocked at how parochial so many of the posts are. Any punishment that doesn’t take into consideration the facts and situation involved will be substantially wrong most of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/51 "2014-06-13T20:02:25Z")
> [@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. The problem with holding the man liable is that he may not have consented to the abortion. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/52 "2014-06-14T13:00:37Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Please tell me why any pro-lifer would find the society described in Handmaid utopic anymore than a supporter of the legalization of drugs would find _Brave New World_ utopic or a supporter of the government ownership of major industries would find _1984_ utopic. There are people RIGHT HERE IN THIS THREAD talking about what they would like in “an ideal world” (in other words, their utopias) that match almost word for word what happens in that book. Forced labor camps. Death penalties for doctors. Etc. It’s scary. ---
**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 14, 2014, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/53 "2014-06-14T13:50:39Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > This is one reason that, while I oppose abortion on religious grounds, I’m not in favor of it being made illegal. You can’t punish doctors who perform them, because that will just result in women getting abortions without doctors, which is worse. Punishing the mother is problematic as well; I have compassion for women who feel like abortion is the only or best option available to them and I also don’t like the idea of punishing people for actions that many or most people don’t believe is wrong, even if I think it is. > > If that’s fighting the hypothetical and I have to name a punishment that would be appropriate, I’d say some kind of required class on family planning/contraception. Kind of like when we make reckless drivers attend a safe driving class for a day. I don’t remotely see how having fewer women get abortions, but a bigger percentage of them be without doctors, could possibly be worse than fewer women have abortions, but all of them have them done by doctors . I’d have _some_ punishment for the mother, at least in some cases, but I’d punish the doctors (at least when the pregnancy poses no serious medical threat to the mother) more harshly. ---
**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 14, 2014, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/54 "2014-06-14T13:51:53Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Don’t fight the hypothetical. > > Really, like mentioned above the onus should be on the doctor performing the illegal act. > > If this law did pass it would probably be passed by religious conservatives so they would probably want to show the woman how precious and important babies are. So if a woman performed her own abortion I would think the punishment would be something like community service along the lines of helping out at a daycare center or a hospital nursery. > > Or if she could knit she could do what my grandma does and knit baby blankets and then give them to the nursery. I really like this idea. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/55 "2014-06-14T14:09:48Z")
Penalizing doctors isn’t going to be enough to deter women from getting abortions. Especially in the internet age. A few clicks of the mouse will provide you with all the DIY information you could ever want. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/56 "2014-06-14T14:13:39Z")
If abortion were to be made illegal on the grounds that a foetus is a person, then for the sake of consistency the punishment should be exactly the same as for the murder of any other person. Any other option is clearly ridiculous. The doctor and the mother have clearly conspired, planned and executed the murder together, and will be punished accordingly. This will see the brutal imprisonment of many women. Perhaps some cases capital punishment, if a woman gets away with it several times. There will be international outrage, there will be sanctions and either the US would come to its senses again or the whole thing would simply implode. Oh and hopefully all the wonderful intelligent women will run away to the civilised world triggering the sudden realisation that it was all a terrible, terrible mistake. Oopsie, please come back, beautiful, nice women? Pretty please? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/57 "2014-06-14T17:14:52Z")
Abortion could be made illegal, indeed criminal, without the woman, the potential mother, having to be punished at all. It would be the abortionist who would be subject to punishment. Isn’t that, in fact, how it was back when abortion _was_ illegal? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/58 "2014-06-14T17:36:47Z")
18 to 35 years of hard labor. [Foghorn/] That’s a joke, a joke. I say. Laugh. [Foghorn] Abortion is a human right. Punishing the women who opt for it and killing the doctors who perform it is Taliban level of oppression. We get it that the supporters of patriarchy don’t approve. Too bad. Lovers of women do. I’m The Second Stone and I approve of abortion and this message. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/59 "2014-06-14T18:41:37Z")
I believe the laws would (or should) prohibit _performing_ an abortion, not \*getting \*one. No penalty whatsoever for the woman. ---
**Author:** ![cococ173](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ab097/32.png) [@cococ173](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cococ173)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-abortion-is-made-illegal-again-what-should-be-the-punishment-for-women-having-one/690633/60 "2014-06-14T19:38:28Z")
Women that have abortions are punished enough in that I don’t think anyone who decides to terminate a pregnancy does so without a little amount of guilt, grief, or remorse. When the procedure was illegal, women went through punishments of risking bleeding to death, infections, perforations of organs, permanent sterility, etc. In the 1960s, one could always find a non-medical person happy to assist. I, too, am under the impression no woman has ever been indicted for having an illegal abortion. Even today, some people have to travel long distances to find a legal clinic since those ridiculous laws in some states were enacted that shut down clinics. I cannot imagine going back to those times in the 60s. Makes me ill. [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=2) [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=4)