I'm pro-choice. But I wish all these states passing abortion bans would have the guts ...

[BlueCheeseAgain]

... to punish the pregnant woman who actually gets the abortion. This isn't because I think this would be a good idea-- far from it. But it would crystallize the logical outcome of what anti-abortionists are saying.

They always want to punish the doctor or medical provider. But if you really think that abortion is murder, then how can you let the person who actively seeks out an abortion and undergoes one to go free? It'd be like prosecuting the hitman for a murder but not the person who hired him.

The official reason for this is incredibly insulting and sexist-- the pregnant woman who gets the abortion is a victim too! They're deceived, or fooled, or just not smart enough, and fall prey to the abortion doctors who somehow trick them into doing something they don't really want to do.

The real reason, of course, is that it would be incredibly unpopular to do so-- even more unpopular than abortion bans are by themselves. I really wish someone would force them to admit their cowardice and hypocrisy on this-- make them face the true unpopularity of what they're doing.

[SharonClark]

1. If they scare off the doctors who perform

abortions they believe no one will get a legal abortion. If they punish the pregnant woman they stop only one abortion.

[ananda]

3. Unintended consequence: no woman will get reproductive healthcare...

... because all of the doctors will leave.

[leftieNanner]

2. Chris Matthews got tfg to say that very thing nt

[Eliot Rosewater]

4. GOP wants to execute or imprison Women who disobey and have sex with other than them.

[ShazzieB]

5. I absolutely agree about the unpopularity issue.

Repubs are stupid, but it seems to have dawned on them that they've pushed things too far, too fast. They've started to notice that even their own base isn't exactly thrilled with the really drastic bans, and they knew they're losing public support. (They don't really care how people feel, but they care about votes, and trying to buy all the votes they need to win every election isn’t really feasible.)

The idea of women being victims is a biggie, too. One of the anti-choice crowd's favorite talking points is the lie that abortion harms women so, SO much, and it needs to be banned to protect both the women AND the baybeez.

Remember that anti-abortion amendment that was so famously voted down in Kansas last year? The slogan that was used to promote it was "Value them both." The amendment itself was nicknamed the Value Them Both Amendment, and tons of advertising were cranked out using that theme. Take a look at this website to see what I mean: https://valuethemboth.com/

The anti-choicers are well aware that many (correctly) view them as lacking concern for women, and they really don't like being seen that way. They don't seem to realize they are bound to be seen that way, and they keep trying to fight against it as they did in Kansas. Treating everyone who has had an abortion as a criminal to be arrested and prosecuted would force them to give up any presence of caring about women and lay bare the truth that they want to control women, not protect or "value" them. They really, really don't want that!

And now we have come back around to unpopularity. Repubs and their anti-choice supporters have suddenly become aware that they are pushing something unpopular, and they know that treating women who've had abortions as criminals would be even more unpopular, as well as contrary to their own talking points. Oops!