I have always felt that most people picketing at clinics have had an abortion and were protesting out of guilt. So when you ask if the mother should be punished , that hits pretty close to home! I know several women who had abortions that became 'pro-life' afterward. It was as though they blamed the law for letting them get in trouble with God.

who also picket at clinics have had an abortion. Just a wild guess on my part.

But seriously, given that the vast majority of women who've had an abortion do not feel any guilt, it's my distinct impression that those who picket have simply never been faced with an unwanted pregnancy, or one with a fetus that won't survive or will be terribly handicapped, and so feel very comfortable judging others.

Personal story, only tangentially connected to abortion: My 28 year old son visited me a couple of weeks ago, and in the course of our many conversations, abortion came up. He is, as I am, totally pro-choice. I told him that because I was 38 when he was born, I was of an age where prenatal testing for Down Syndrome is recommended. I did not do any such testing. While I would not have chosen ahead of time to have a DS child, I was okay if that happened. He told me that he would absolutely not want to parent a DS child, and would want such a pregnancy aborted. I see this as simply an example of two people who have opposite takes on one specific situation, and as I said to him, Neither one of us is wrong.

That he was able to share those feelings with you is wonderful.
In response to your comment about men and young children....I'm not going to argue with you about the age of the young women and as for the males, obviously it would be aborting as a father...there pretty much had to be some sperm somewhere. My experience with abortion comes from my sisters and their experiences. Both ended up childless, born again religious and filled with complete remorse. I had to intervene when a church member on the New Beginning Team tried to visit my sister in the special care unit to delve into the problem. I don't really want to go deeper into this. These are my experiences and I stand by my opinion. It is such a sad thing that we have to revisit abortion over and over and that birth control is not readily available to avoid all of this heartache. Screw people who want to tell women what to do. We have been pushed back to the cave.

have had the experience they did. It seems as if their real problem is the religion, not the abortion. It does sound as if you've been very supportive of them throughout this entire thing, and that's a very good thing.

A total lack of critical thinking of each and every anti-abortionist there.
A programed droid group.