Monday, July 30, 2007

How much jail time?

So my sister sent me a story I think gives an interesting perspective on the abortion debate. If abortion is illegal, how much jail time should a woman who has one in a state where it's illegal get? Check it out here

For those who think that abortion and contraception will not be a big issue in the next election, just look at what has happened in the past few years:

1) For three years, white house political appointees interfered with the Food and Drug Administration's decision on the Plan B® emergency contraceptive, delaying the eventual approval of the back-up form of birth control for over-the-counter sale claiming non-existent health concerns.

2) The current president and anti-choice congressional allies have continuously increased funding for abstinence-only sex education programs that have never been shown to actually decrease teen pregnancy or even lessen the number of teenagers having sex. Compare that to the number of studies showing more comprehensive education decreases the number of teen pregnancy cases.

3) Ideology and politics can sometimes trump science. The Department of Health and Human Services recently revised its website, 4Parents.gov, and replaced factual data designed to help parents talk about preventing teen pregnancy with biased and misleading claims about abortion. Previously, the administration had to remove medically inaccurate material it placed on the National Institutes of Health's website that falsely linked abortion to breast cancer, a claim roundly rejected by medical researchers and breast-cancer prevention advocates.

4) On April 18, 2007, the Supreme Court handed down its decision to uphold the Federal Abortion Ban in Gonzales v. Carhart and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood, that held no exceptions for the health of the woman. The current court is likely to leave abortion rights in the hands of the states and legislature, even more of a reason to pay attention to who you elect locally.

Oy, my short post has turned into something much longer than intended... more on this to come later (or just check out the link in the bottom left corner for more info). For now, though, I'd love to hear opinions on the title of this post.

4 comments:

Bela Naomi said...

interesting article!

I can just imagine these women in jail next to real criminals...

Unknown said...

yes, very interesting! i never realized there was hesitation on punishment. it seemed obvious that if they're calling it murder, they'd want to lock up the new murders similarly to all the other murderers. the doctors would have to go and the women would too. it'd be equivalent to hiring a hit man.
just be happy we have a constitution prohibiting ex post facto laws!

Unknown said...

Um....the answer is not Jail time but community service at planned Parenthood. If they don't have a child then they have time for it.

That is what I would say if I was asked. It's clear that Jail time would not be the answer but the punishment should fit the crime.

I've got a question that you could probably answer for me that bothers me though. When I think "Abortion I normally think about some little girl that is really smart who truly believes that a child with ruin her life. Or a woman that has been raped and is pregnant by the rapist. I get that one. But what about SELFISH? What if the woman is like 35 with a great job and a house and a car and she just wanted to abort the baby because she doesn't want children in her awesome life? Is that still jacked. I mean it is the opposite spectrum and I KNOW that you think all kids are so precious.

I mean my mother works alot and got her tubes tied a while back. What if she thought that to be a SURGEON she should make the ultimate sacrifice and killed me off?

Unknown said...

the american justice system is hardly about punishment fitting the crime. that would be great, but in practice jail is the punishment for just about everything. while it isn't productive, it prevents recurrence while in custody and is a large deterrent. nobody will take the law seriously if the consequence is community service at planned parenthood.