Recently pro-abortion organization NARAL tweeted a picture of one of their billboards reading, “LIFE IN PRISON OR DEATH PENALTY FOR ABORTION? That’s what state legislatures are proposing for women in Ohio.”
A scary message, especially given the hype around the recent confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh and national conversations around the potential end of Roe v. Wade.
But there’s a problem.
Not only is this untrue, it misses the point entirely.
When an abortion is performed, there are two victims: the baby and the mother.
Yes, the primary goal of pro-life laws are to save the lives of the preborn. But it is not the only goal. By preventing a woman from choosing abortion, you may be saving her life as well. Women who have an abortion are more likely to commit suicide, to experience mental health problems, and in most cases felt pressured into making the choice in the first place.
This is not a new concept. As Clarke Forsythe of the AUL points out, “There is no documented case since 1922 in which a woman has been charged in an abortion in the United States.”
For the 51 years preceding Roe v. Wade, not a single woman was punished under the law for having an abortion.
That is because, as the Supreme Court of Oregon highlighted in the 1968 case State v. Barnett, “…the acts prohibited are those which are performed upon the mother rather than any action taken by her. She is the object of the acts prohibited rather than the actor.”
In other words, pro-life laws are rarely aimed towards women.
But if pro-life laws are not aimed against women, then who are they aimed against? The real perpetrator of the crime: the abortionist.
From a young age, women are told having an abortion is safe, moral, and only pertains to them. They are told it is like removing a tumor — just a clump of cells — not taking a human life. “Your body, your choice,” the marketing goes. They are sold a bill of lies, and it does not make any sense to punish someone who is the victim of false advertising.
However, the abortionist knows better.
This is why they are the perpetrator. This is why pro-life laws target them, not the women. Contrary to the scare tactics of NARAL and others, any claims made otherwise are, as Forsythe states, “without any evidence and contrary to the well-documented practice of ALL 50 states.”
There is only one party who stands to lose from these restrictions, and that’s the multi-billion dollar abortion industry.
