With John McCain having chosen Sarah Palin as his running mate this year, I've been thinking an awful lot about abortion. Palin is pro-life. She believes human life begins at conception, that this human life ought to be protected by federal law, and that having an abortion or aiding in an abortion to be a violation of criminal law. Pro-life advocates want Roe v. Wade, which extended the right of privacy to include the decision to have an abortion, overturned. The thought of having Roe v. Wade overturned and abortion made illegal scares me for several reasons.
First, look at alcohol prohibition. Making it illegal for someone to consume alcohol didn't stop people from drinking alcohol. It just made them turn to a black market to get it. Ridding the supply does not kill the demand. Abortion will do the same. Instead of stopping abortion, a constitutional ban on abortions will push abortion into a black market. The price will be staggeringly higher. The black martket abortion surgeon may be licensed, maybe not. The equipment used will be outdated with low standards of sterilization. There will be no legal recourse for malpractice, neglect, or battery allegations. Making abortion a black market commodity will hurt women, not help them.
Second, it will be a criminal offense. Women who choose to have abortions will have no protections under the law; they themselves will be outlaws. When someone is prosecuted in this country for violating criminal laws, their identities become part of the public record. Everytime someone does a background check, the abortion will show up. Anytime someone applies for a job, the abortion will show up. Anytime someone attempts to buy or sell property, the abortion will show up. Making abortion illegal will force women to don a scarlet letter. Their decision will be placed out there for all to see and for all to judge.
Third, there are other ways besides a constitutional ban to stop abortions. Women don't just wake up in the morning, look at the sun outside their window, and decide to have an abortion. There are a million variables and causes that lead up to a woman's decision to have an abortion. Not all of them are within her control. Poverty, crime, drug abuse, and unforeseen unfortunate events all contribute to the total number of abortions. Attacking these problems will do more to curb the total number of abortions than a federal law will. Abortion is a symptom of the problem; not the problem itself.
What I don't understand about the pro-life position, being that many pro-lifers are conservative and for "small" government, is its reliance on government intervention to fix the problem. Making abortion illegal will greatly increase goverment involvement in people's reproductive choices. The entire justice system will have to begin devoting more time and resources to persecuting people caught and arrested for being involved with abortions. Instead of helping teenage mothers in their situation, we're going to add the burden of criminality and expend valuable taxpayer resources to do it.
For these reasons, I consider myself of the pro-choice opinion. I don't know what it really means to say "life is sacred." I only know that I value my own life, and I'm willing to bet others out there do the same. I don't believe there's anyone out there who truly wants people to have abortions; I believe the question is largely one of strategy. The real question is: what is the best way to curb the total number of abortions? Pass a law or fight it at its roots? Governor Palin believes it should be the justice department's job.
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