Two decades into the twenty-first century, almost 250 years after the United States was founded on Enlightenment principles of reason and the separation of church and state, there is actually a serious debate going on in Texas over whether to execute a woman — or girl — for getting an abortion, as well as possibly anyone who helped or encouraged her.
From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: In a suburban Fort Worth House runoff, Republicans debate killing women over abortion
Should Texas punish abortions by putting teenage girls and women to death?
Or not?
That’s the current debate in the Republican Party of Texas, where outlawing abortion is no longer a question of “if” or “when” but a question of whether to kill women for getting one.
This is the logical extension — in the Augustinian sense of theological logic — of declaring that abortion is murder.
North Richland Hills Republican David Lowe swears his campaign in the May 24 runoff election has nothing to do with killing women.
. . . .
[Yet] Lowe’s final comment was chilling.
“Do we all agree that abortion is murder?” he asked the crowd.
“Absolutely. There should be consequences for it.”
[Lowe] went on to praise a House bill last session that would have made ending a pregnancy a potential capital crime.
That bill was described this way:
Under the bill filed Tuesday, women who receive an abortion and physicians who perform the procedure could be charged with assault or homicide, which is punishable by death in Texas, confirmed Shannon Edmonds, a staff attorney with the Texas District and County Attorneys Association. The association does not have a position on the bill. www.texastribune.org/…
That bill died. The next one might not. And there are plans to include anyone who in any way counsels or aids in getting an abortion.
So, we could have this scenario: 11-year-old girl, raped by her stepfather, tearfully tells her mother she’s now pregnant. Mother comforts her and asks her if she wants to have it “taken care of” (if for no other reason than that she isn’t physically ready to carry a fetus to term). The mother could now be charged with a capital crime — whether or not the girl actually gets an abortion.
This is what passes for Christian charity in the Year of Our Lord 2022.