Apparently many conservatives believe that women should be punished for having abortions. I have a better, more just, more effective suggestion:
Punish men for abortions!
[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Given their deep commitment to ending abortion, anti-choice politicians should welcome the plan to punish men with imprisonment and fines.[/pullquote]
After all, it’s the man’s fault; there’s no way a woman can find herself with an unwanted pregnancy without a man being responsible for it.
Christina Cauterucci at Slate wrote about the anti-choice beliefs of Trump supporters.
In an online survey, 39 percent of 2,000 self-identified Donald Trump voters reported that they thought women should be punished for seeking abortions if the procedure is ever banned in the U.S. A full 60 percent of those polled said abortion should be illegal; 18 percent of all the poll’s Trump voters said it should be illegal without exceptions for rape, incest, or to save a pregnant woman’s life…
Anti-choicers are enraptured with the notion of punishment for abortion:
Anti-choice legislators pass laws requiring women to listen to state-sponsored misinformation and wait days between requesting an abortion and getting one, revealing a fundamental mistrust of women’s capacity to make their own decisions. Laws in many states make women travel to clinics more than 100 miles away for multiple appointments, separated by days, costing them unnecessary time and money. Restrictions on when women can get abortions force some women to carry to term fetuses with no chance of surviving outside the womb. Women are charged with felonies and incarcerated in the U.S. for trying to induce abortions on their own.
But that’s so inefficient!! Why punish a woman for an unwanted pregnancy when she didn’t want it in the first place? It makes so much more sense to punish the man who made it happen.
Think of the advantages:
It is far simpler: All it takes is a simple paternity test on the products of conception. Quick! Easy! Painless!
It is foolproof: Let’s face it, there are lots of things that women can do to avoid being punished for having an abortion. The biggest problem with state abortion restrictions — requiring unnecessary ultrasounds, forcing women to listen to lies about abortion, or mandating two clinic visits instead of one — is that they can be evaded if a woman travels to another state. But if all she has to do is name the father and bring back the products of conception for testing, we can punish the appropriate man every time!
It is true justice: Women don’t create unwanted pregnancies; men do. Punishing women for having abortions is like punishing women for getting stabbed. Ethics demands that we punish the man who did the stabbing not the victim, right? By the same reasoning, ethics demands that we punish the man who caused the unwanted pregnancy, not the woman who is, in truth, the victim of the unbridled sexual appetites of a man.
It will be much more effective: Women who get pregnant through rape or incest can’t avoid getting pregnant, but the men who commit those crimes could certainly avoid them if they chose. How better to prevent rape and incest in particular, and unwanted pregnancies in general, than holding the perpetrators to account?
How would we punish the men we identify in this way?
A long prison term is the obvious choice, at least ten years at minimum!
On their way to prison they should be forced to walk a public gauntlet of abortion protesters and be subjected to vicious criticism. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, right?
Beyond that, their names should be published so that everyone they know should witness their shame; a large fine in on release from prison wouldn’t be remiss, either!
I know it sounds harsh, but if we are really committed to ending unwanted pregnancies that result in abortion, this would go a long way toward making men take responsibility for their irresponsible behavior.
To kick off the campaign, I suggest that all male anti-choice politicians, publicly confess to any abortions they have been responsible for in the past and submit their DNA to be used in the event that they cause future unwanted pregnancies.
Anti-choice male politicians should publicly acknowledge their part in unwanted pregnancies (if any), serve the prison time and pay the fines, setting an edifying example in the process.
Given their profound commitment to ending abortion, anti-choice politicians should greet the plan to punish men for abortions with unrestrained enthusiasm.
Of course, if they reject such a plan we’ll be left to conclude that anti-choice politicians don’t want to prevent abortions; they just want to punish women for having sex.
