Death penalty for abortion in the USA: what are the consequences?
Introduction
Recently in the United States, the idea of enforcing the death penalty for abortions has been circulated by state legislators who have introduced bills attempting to classify abortion as homicide or murder. This article reveals the the nature of this legislative push by states such as Tennessee, South Caroline and others, alongside dissecting the critical debate surrounding the issue.
Roe v Wade
In June 2022, the landmark case Roe v Wade was overturned through Dobbs v Jackson women's health organisation, ending the constitutional right to abortion and allowing individual states to ban or restrict the procedure. Currently, 14 states have criminalized abortion. This decision has evidently led to great legal, social and political repercussions. Most notably, this has detrimentally affected the health of women in America. As reported by Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Heath, restrictions are expected to increase pregnancy related deaths by 21% nationwide and up to 33% among black women in particular. The ruling disproportionately impacts women of colour, who already face racial discrimination within the healthcare sector and those with lower income as they may not have the means to travel to another state without the restriction to get the procedure done.
As for the rulings implications on the death penalty, the Dobbs decision made evident that abortion regulations are now entirely at the discretion of state legislators. Legislators in some states are currently acting to criminalise the use of abortion medication pills and even the act of traveling to another state to seek services. In extreme cases, legislators have exploited this power in an attempt to classify those who decide to have an abortion as murders, qualifying them for the death penalty.
Legislative efforts
As stated by Tanne, states such as South Carolina, Oklahoma, North Dakota and Indiana are contemplating bills that would “classify abortion as homicide and therefore allow patients who have abortions to be charged with murder”. All of these states, except North Dakota, currently enforce the death penalty for murder cases. Tanne also reveals that the central theme of these bills contends that a foetus is a human being, aligning with the pro-life belief, and thus should be protected by homicide laws.
In South Carolina the proposed legislation aims to “protect the lives of pre-born persons with the same criminal and civil laws protetcing the lives of born persons”, as per the South Carolina general assembly. In the case of Oklahoma, legislation states that “ homicide is the killing of one human being by another” and that a unborn child is included in the definition of a “human being”.
Discussion around the topic
The “foetal personhood” movement advocates for constitutional rights to be extended to the “rights of the womb at all stages of pregnancy”. The movement is evidently in support for the restrictions on abortions placed by certain states. If this notion were to succeed, establishing personhood could lead to even more extreme barriers put in place to reduce women's autonomy such as investigations into miscarriages, restrictions on IVF (as seen in Alabama) and potential control over certain contraceptives.
Despite this, there remains a plethora of discourse against both the notion of foetal personhood and the use of the death penalty in this case. Perhaps most surprisingly, much of this discourse actually derives from the pro-life movement itself. Influential scholars such as Christopher Kaczor, professor of philosophy at Loyola Marymount Univeristy and author of “The ethics of abortion: women's rights, human life and the question of justice” , takes a pro life stance but advocates for non-violent legal responses to abortion. Similarly, scholars like Don Marquis argue for the immorality pf abortion by focusing on the “loss of a future like ours” rather than concentrating on punishmnet of pregnant women. Additionally, much of this commentary stems from catholic teachings that suggest being “pro-life” means opposing the death penalty for everyone, including in this case those who choose to have abortions.
Conclusion
Ultimately, it is quite frankly terrifying that some state legislators have been contemplating enforcing the death penalty against those who choose to or need to have an abortion. If actualised, it would be yet another punitive encroachment into the autonomy of women, particularly affecting the working class and women of colour. Although this is yet to be a nationwide issue, it is evident that further action must be taken to prevent such an acceleration.
~ Written by Alisha Riaz