Fred Thompson appeared on Meet the Press last weekend and said, of abortion, "I do not think it is a wise thing to criminalize young girls and perhaps their parents as aiders and abettors" and "You can't have a [federal] law" that "would take young, young girls … and say, basically, we're going to put them in jail." Bob Novak has decided that Thompson's comments reveal "an astounding lack of sensitivity about abortion." Well, it does seem to show a lack of sensitivity about the anti-abortion movement's rhetoric, which holds that making abortion illegal would simply make it stop happening. But Thompson's statements actually betray a better understanding about why arguments for making abortion illegal just don't hold any water. While the pro-life camp wants to make abortion illegal, they haven't given much thought to what the punishment should be for women who break the law, as this video so aptly illustrates.
Either Thompson's supporters have been deceived about his stance on abortion, or Thompson himself doesn't really know what he thinks. Then again, perhaps he does, and he just forgot to get his thoughts approved by party minders before going on Meet the Press.
--Kate Sheppard
