Why We Shouldn’t Punish Mothers Harshly For Abortion Even Though It Is MurderIs there a way to say ‘abortion is murder’ without committing oneself to punishing mothers who abort with the punishments we reserve for murderers? The short answer is yes.By Z.W. Lucow April 17, 2017
In a recent interview with Dave Rubin, David Horowitz described his qualified pro-life position. While he could not call himself pro-choice, he challenged the rhetoric of “abortion is murder.” If abortion is murder, he argued, then every woman who has had an abortion should be in jail for life. Because such a consequence would be extreme, the proposition “abortion is murder” must also be extreme.
This argument is familiar and persuasive. Undoubtedly, a man as honorable and intelligent as Horowitz would not be troubled by such an argument unless it was, at the very least, a powerful piece of rhetoric.
Horowitz is not alone in his hesitation. When a candidate for president, Donald Trump said he would have women convicted for having an abortion. Representatives of the pro-life movement quickly distanced themselves from his position. The question is whether there is a way to say that “abortion is murder” without committing oneself to an unfortunate policy position most would prefer to avoid. The short answer is yes, but that depends upon first clearing up a pernicious equivocation.
There Are Many Different Kinds of MurderThe problem with this pro-choice argument from legal consequences, which I will refer to as the legal argument, is that it conflates two senses of the word “murder.” ...
Continued:
http://thefederalist.com/2017/04/17/shouldnt-punish-mothers-harshly-abortion-even-though-murder/
