Criminalizing abortion won't stop it!

Reply to a comment at http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/court-ordered-abortion-sterilization-of-catholic-woman-in-mass.-overturned




You're right; making something illegal will not completely eradicate the practice. Making theft, murder, rape, embezzlement, and EVERY OTHER ILLEGAL THING illegal has not stopped them either. The purpose of making an act illegal is not to completely stop it from happening--no one expects that to happen with abortion any more than it has happened with nearly every law ever passed. The purpose is to limit the action by attaching negative consequences. Pro-Life laws will not stop the truly determined from finding a way to do away with their unborn children, but they will give most mothers pause when considering abortion and encourage them to seek other alternatives. 

I agree with you about gun control--I own a gun, and I'm registered for a concealed carry class this weekend. As you say, no legislation will keep criminals from carrying firearms, and will instead leave the rest of the populace unarmed and defenseless should (God forbid) someone come at them with a gun or other weapon. 

However, the purpose of a gun is very different from the purpose of abortion. A gun is intended to protect law-abiding citizens from criminals who consciously, deliberately broke the law and/or are about to harm someone. Abortion is viewed two different ways depending on whom you ask. Pro-lifers see abortion as an attack by the mother/doctor on the child, which can be compared to the criminal attacking the law-abiding citizen. Just as criminal attacks are illegal, so should abortion be. On the other hand, pro-choicers see abortion as a self-defense measure by the mother, protecting herself from an invading parasite, the fetus. The flaw here is comparing the fetus to an attacking criminal--the criminal has consciously chosen to break the law, whereas the fetus was a product of the actions of others. In over 95% of cases, those "others" were the mother and a consenting partner. How can a mother claim to "defend" herself from something that never chose to attack her?