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Published Letters: 68
Editor's Choice: 7
To hazard a guess, aren't there abortions being performed that are currently illegal? Aren't some of those occasionally prosecuted?
Roe v. Wade guarantees the right to an abortion for the first trimester only, and Casey allowed states to put some restrictions on that right. Whatever the criminal penalties are for illegal or nonconforming abortions, surely they can easily be extended to abortions that are currently legal. For example, it wouldn't surprise me to find out that a doctor who performed medically unnecessary late-term abortions got his license revoked. Chances are the pregnant woman in that case is not usually prosecuted, but may face some liability herself. What happens to clinics that violate parental notification laws?
I think it would be politically unpalatable to treat abortion like murder of a born person, even among most pro-lifers. However I imagine most people wouldn't balk at seeing it treated like a DUI - i.e., mild punishment for a first offender, which could be lessened or made more severe depending on circumstances, and escalating punishment for multiple offenses. Even a lot of pro-choicers seem to think that having many abortions is morally wrong in a way that haven't just one isn't, which also seems a little inconsistent.
