Published on February 27, 2005 By stubbyfinger In Current Events
If the Pro-life movement succeeds in making abortion illegal what will the ensuing steps to enforce this new law entail? When the hundreds of abortion clinics spring up along the borders of Canada and Mexico it will to some degree become the Border Patrol’s responsibility to enforce the law. Will there new duties include giving a pregnancy test to border crossers?

What will the penalties be? Will a Woman be charged with premeditated murder, with all the mandatory minimums that come with that, if she has an illegal abortion? If say a co-worker overhears someone expressing a desire to terminate a pregnancy and reports them, will they be forced to undergo a psychological evaluation to determine their intentions? And if they don’t report them will they be guilty of conspiracy to commit murder? If it is determined that they may pursue an abortion will they be placed in protective custody for the length of the pregnancy, and then be deemed an unfit mother and have the child removed? And what ramifications will that have for her later in life if she decides she's ready to start a family? With the parental notification amendment that just passed will a parent or guardian have the authority to place a minor in a home or detention center for the pregnancy term, or will that decision be up to a state appointed counselor?

The way I see it nothing less than new branch of law enforcement will have to be created to handle yet another war on something. The new challenges that will be presented to this new branch will be similar to what the DEA faces now. If our neighbors don’t change their law how will we keep them from building abortion clinics along our borders? And if they do follow suit will we give them more aid to stop these clinics and RU486 labs?

Our war on drugs cannot be won, and in fact is making that problem much worse. Can we please learn from this before we inter another un-winnable war and remember the goal is to stop abortions? And the most feasible way to do that is to work to stop unwanted pregnancies.


Comments
on Feb 27, 2005
Great article!! And even better question.

Actually it wouldn't take the police state scenarios you paint in your article. As it stands now, there are a lot of procedures and treatments that are illegal here in the U.S. If a total ban on abortion were passed (which only the most extreme in the anti abortion camp would pursue anyway), it would be much like the laws we have now for alleged cancer "cures".

SInce no one (medical or other healthcare practitioners) has been able to demonstrate a definitive "cure" for cancer, as it stands now, it is illegal for anyone to advertise or otherwise claim that their treatment regimen does. This doesn't make criminals of cancer victims who seek a cure, nor does it criminalize those who cross the border into Mexico. Since many in Tijuana are willing to sell anything from peach pits to Macrobiotic diets as "miracle" cures, many Americans travel there to put it to the test. They aren't stopped at the border coming or going.

If you travel from the U.S. to another country, then participate in something that is illegal here, but not there, you aren't arrested when you come back. Even Prs. Clinton was known to enjoy a Havana cigar or two while overseas. The number of Americans frequenting the Hash clubs in Holland will never be known, but none are considered "criminals".

Speaking for myself, I'm not against abortion as a medical procedure, I'm against abortion as a means of birth control. As it stands now, there are many situations where paramedics, doctors and other professionals are in the terrible position of deciding who has the best chance of surviving, and treating them at the expense of others. That is what the concept of "Triage" is all about. In a "mass casualty" situation, all the casualties are evaluated and then treated according to their chances of survival. In a situation where a choice must be made between saving the mother and the fetus inside her, triage would almost always side with saving the mother. So, in a ban on abortion on demand, we wouldn't even have to change existing protocols for when a legal abortion is justified.

Another option could be to go back to pre-Roe vs. Wade, where abortion for medical purposes was legal in some states and cities, but not others. The Supreme Court decision took it out of the state's hands and made it a 14th Amendment issue (although how they could justify killing for convenience a violation of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is anybody's guess). If we went back to pre-Roe Vs. Wade laws, it would be very conceiveable for medical abortion to be legal in as many states that wanted to have them.
on Feb 27, 2005
Thank you for the comments ParaTed2k.

Actually it wouldn't take the police state scenarios you paint in your article. As it stands now, there are a lot of procedures and treatments that are illegal here in the U.S. If a total ban on abortion were passed (which only the most extreme in the anti abortion camp would pursue anyway), it would be much like the laws we have now for alleged cancer "cures".


For the majority of people who consider themselves Pro-lifers this is not a gray area, abortion is murder. There opinion of weather it is equal to killing someone with a birth date or even a mature fetus I’m sure would vary. I would think even there most lenient characterization of the "crime" would be on par with drug use. Logically then we would have the same penalties for abortion practitioners as drug dealers, and expend the same effort to bring them to justice.

If you travel from the U.S. to another country, then participate in something that is illegal here, but not there, you aren't arrested when you come back. Even Prs. Clinton was known to enjoy a Havana cigar or two while overseas. The number of Americans frequenting the Hash clubs in Holland will never be known, but none are considered "criminals".


If they could prove that you were pregnant before you left this country and our law states that fetus has the same rights as newborn. Then at the very least they could charge you with child abandonment right?