It strikes me as odd that there has been near universal condemnation of the idea that women should suffer legal repercussions for engaging in an abortion (amongst the pro-life right). A case could be made that doctors are bound by professional creed to provide the service requested by the patient, so long as it is compatible with the Hippocratic oath, and professional standards (concerns about the fetus aside).
But what of the culpability of the pregnant woman?? In what framework could she possibly have less responsibility for the abhorrent practice of abortion than the doctor who has the special skills to perform the procedure? SHE got pregnant. Not the Dr. SHE pursued the abortion. Not the Dr. SHE paid for the procedure. Not the DR.
IF abortion is to be regarded as a grave evil and injustice, absent political calculations, the woman is obviously much more culpable than the Dr.
Which brings me to this conclusion....
Jumping on women for wanting to end a pregnancy is politically toxic, because there simply aren't enough hard-line pro lifers to safely take that position. MUCH easier to threaten prosecution, professional censure, or defunding for the extremely small portion of people that provide the service, rather than the much more potent voting cohort that may avail themselves of that service at some point.
Much like the drug war, it's much easier to go after the small number of providers than the large number of customers. We should probably ask ourselves, which is a more effective way to combat abortion? Imposing penalties on the doctor clearly is. If you make it so no one is willing to perform abortions, then you don't need to worry about rounding up the mothers and fining them.
