Monday, April 07, 2008

Consequences and Punishment

A recurring theme in abortion debates is that when pro-lifers say "consequences" (as in "pregnancy is a predictable consequence of sex") that they really mean "punishment" (as in "sluts who have sex outside of marriage deserve the punishment of pregnancy").

Of course, that's not what pro-life supporters mean, but it's a nice straw man that pro-abortion advocates like to use. It takes all that needless thinking out of the argument and allows them to use a soundbite instead of their brains.

As I said a long time ago, a consequence is merely the result of a particular behavior, whereas a punishment is a penalty inflicted for an offense or fault. If you get drunk and run your car into a tree, the accident isn't a punishment for your drunkenness. It's a consequence of it.

I bring all this up after reading this Pandagon post where Amanda Marcotte, once again, makes this same disingenuous argument.

The stupid factor cannot be underestimated. Right now, there’s a raging, um, debate, in comments about whether or not the word “consequences”, when used by an anti-choicer describing what he would like to happen to people, especially women, who f***, is synonymous with “punishment”. The dumbass anti-choicers think they are incredibly f****** clever using the word “consequences”. “With this word, we can advocate punishing the sluts without actually saying we’re going to punish them! It’s an amazing plan! They will never see through our clever ruse.”

They must assume everyone else is as dumb as they are and we can’t figure out a word’s meaning from context clues, which is something that your average 3rd grader can ace on a standardized exam.

The biggest, most glaring problem with this argument is that pro-lifers don't see having children as punishment. Of course, this is a point that the Amanda Marcottes of the world don't understand. It's a little like speaking English to a person who only understands Russian. But I'll try again.

Um, Amanda? Having children isn't punishment, even when you aren't crazy about having children. What they are are people you create by having sex, and, believe it or not, biologically, that's the point of sex. Not just for you to have fun. I know you think the fun part of sex is the only part, but it's not. So, when pro-lifers don't buy the "I've got to have abortion available in case I become pregnant and can't afford the baby" argument, it isn't because they are *ahem* "dumbass anti-choicers." It's because they recognize that people who make this argument don't want to accept that sex leads to babies. They want to do what they want and then just kill the baby when nature intervenes.

Farther into Amanda's usual tiresome screed came this "clever" argument:
If abortion is made illegal, what is the preferred prison sentence should be for a woman that has an abortion?

It is, of course, the sort of stupid argument most notable on sites like Pandagon. But, hey, I'll bite.

First, if Roe v. Wade were overturned, abortion would not be instantly illegal. Some states would still have legal abortion while others would not, and there would be states with greater restrictions while others would have few or no restrictions. It's the beauty of that whole federalism thing that people in different states can have different standards.

But what if abortion were completely illegal in some state? Should women be jailed for having abortions? Why not? It would probably be based on a voluntary manslaughter standard, which can carry some jail time and/or a fine. I'm all for holding women to the same standard we hold men.

The truth is, abortion will never be illegal in all 50 states. It will mean that women who want abortions will have to go to a place that allows it. Or they will have to argue why having an abortion because you don't want the child is good enough to change the law to allow it. Or they will have to have the children.

I've seen some crazy arguments on Pandagon for why people are pro-life. Amanda has argued that people are pro-life because they don't like sex, or they just want more white babies for adoption or because they want to punish women. But the truth is that people who are pro-life disagree with abortion because of what happens to the babies and to the mothers. Babies are killed and many women are left with guilt, pain, and regret, not because others are hateful and nasty but because they know what abortion actually is.

I don't expect Amanda Marcotte to understand the difference between consequences and punishment. Judging from the incredibly absurd arguments she makes about pro-life supporters, she stopped thinking a long time ago. And using reason and logic might force her to stop creating strawmen and actually face the weaknesses in the pro-choice argument.