and you don't help by suggesting that most abortion-seeking women are coerced and lulling the public into thinking that most women should never be punished or most will never be punished. That simply won't be the case and I think you know that Matt.

"There are other consequences to declaring abortion is murder that 'pro-lifers' have failed to take into account and now must. How do you prove a woman has had an illegal abortion? Well her medical records become open to police, prosecutors, jurors, and the media. No more medical confidentiality for any woman including any woman in your life Matt. Next, a GYN hired by 'the STATE' will have to do a pelvic exam to collect evidence to convict an abortion provider and the woman herself. (By the way, most women who died pre-Roe Matt, died from self-induced illegal abortion). Maybe you should have a discussion with the women in your life about this inevitable consequence to once again criminalizing abortion because it IS murder.

"Next let's not forget about the trials. Different today than in the early 20th century is what? - Today we can beam those trials around the world in a nano second via the Internet and Court TV. Talk about fodder for reality TV, producers looking for a new sensation will have a field day. These trials can't help but become extremely sexualized putting women's sexuality on trial as well as their abortions. Discuss this consequence too with the women in your life. Mothers, grandmothers, girlfriends, sisters, and teenage daughters will have to face this inevitable consequence.

"Finally, Matt, consider this. Do pro-lifers care about born children as much as they care about unborn fetuses? Think about this. Six out of 10 women who have abortions are mothers. IF abortion IS murder then tens of thousands of mothers will face life in prison and will leave their children motherless. What will happen to our society and our families when tens of thousands of mothers go to prison because anti-abortion zealots got their way and criminalized abortion because it IS murder? What is 'pro-life' about that consequence and where does that leave an anti-abortion movement steeped in so-called 'family values?'

"Do you think there's a better way to reduce the number of abortions in this country? A way that won't endanger the lives of women and teenage girls and which would not make criminals out of mothers? We can reduce the number of abortions by reducing the number of unintended pregnancies.

"Matt, either abortion IS murder or it ISN'T. If 'pro-lifers' now can't own and embrace ALL the consequences of criminalizing abortion because it IS murder as wholeheartedly as they own and embrace the declaration that abortion IS murder then maybe - just maybe abortion ISN'T murder. It may very well be that forcing the pro-life movement to reckon with these consequences - ALL these consequences - they'll have to conclude that abortion ISN'T murder. What do you think?"

Whew!

Judie Brown, president of American Life League (www.all.org), was gracious enough to provide me with the following response to “Jane.”

"As someone who has met young women whose parents have not only pressured them into abortion but lied to get them into an abortionist’s office, I find it hard to make sense of [Jane’s] diatribe. I think she is tossing a red herring into the mix, and would counter her blather with a couple of comments.

"Because we are well aware of the criminal justice system and the way it works, we know there are accomplices to murder, and that those individuals who are tried under that description have varying degrees of guilt in the actual act of murder. The same might well apply not only to the mother, but to the father of the child, the parents of the expectant mother and the nurses in the abortionist’s employ. Those details will be worked out after personhood is established and abortion is defined as an act of murder under the law.

"Jane equates protecting the expectant mother and her baby from the abortionist (which the crisis pregnancy centers do) with the people who take her through the process and finalize it by murdering her baby. If that’s not a case of mixing apples and oranges, I’m a monkey! Jane should get real.

"Nobody knows what the public would stand if personhood for the pre-born child were established and abortion were defined as a crime, and it would not matter anyway. Abortion is an act of murder, regardless of what the law says, what the polls say or what pro-aborts say and our commitment to factual and objective truth has nothing to do with pandering to public opinion. No legitimate pro-lifer wants to distance himself or herself from facts and one of those facts is that abortion is murder and those found guilty of committing such an act will have to pay the price.

"Jane is fearful that one day soon abortion will be criminalized, personhood will be established for all pre-born children from the moment their lives begin, and the birth control-abortion cartel will be exposed for the ugly, deceptive, money-grabbing business it actually is. She can rant all she wants; civil people will do what is right once we get those babies defined as members of the human race under the law.

"Personally, since I know that pro-life Americans do care passionately about the care and love that is due every vulnerable human being, born and pre-born, I really have to wonder about someone who can write hundreds of words in opposition to something so very logical and simple. If only Jane had the ability to see the child as the victim, the mother as a mother and the act of abortion as murder."

Amen!

__________________

(Matt C. Abbott is a Catholic columnist with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication, Media and Theatre from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, and an Associate in Applied Science degree in Business Management from Triton College in River Grove, Ill. He is the former director of public affairs for the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League and the former executive director of the Illinois Right to Life Committee. He was a contributor to The Wanderer Catholic newspaper and had numerous letters to the editor published in major newspapers, including the New York Times, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, and the Chicago Sun-Times. He can be reached at mattcabbott@gmail.com)