Criminal Charges For Physicians Who Perform Abortions For Rape And Incest Victims???

You know what I don't understand? I don't understand how Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, can actually state that he believes medical doctors who perform abortions for victims of rape and incest should face criminal charges. (Thanks to my dear friend, Mira, for the tip.) Really? Has he no shame or sense of decency?

Rick Santorum Would Make Criminals of Doctors Who Perform Abortions on Rape or Incest Victims

You know, I am pro-choice. I have been pro-choice my whole adult life. I don't see that ever changing, but I have a great deal of respect for a certain faction of the pro-life crowd while having NO respect for the pro-birth folks, who lose interest in the child the moment it exits the birth canal. However, I find this absolutely unconscionable. A woman gets pregnant as a result of being raped, or a woman becomes pregnant due to an incestuous relationship, and Rick Santorum thinks the medical doctor who provided her with an abortion should face criminal charges. Now, Santorum has, in that huge compassionately conservative heart of his, found the kindness to not charge the woman who sought the abortion, which is more than I can say for some of the pro-birth crowd. No. He just wants the health care provider to face criminal prosecution. Repulsive.

Even though I have a fundamental disagreement with the pro-birth/pro-life folks regarding a woman's right to choose what to do with her own body, I, on a certain level, can see their point. However, how do they justify prosecuting (and prosecuting them with what crime, pray tell?) a physician for terminating a pregnancy resulting from two of the most heinous crimes that a woman can suffer? How do they justify telling a woman who was raped that if she chooses to terminate the resulting pregnancy that her doctor may go to jail for performing the procedure? How do they justify telling a woman who is pregnant because of an incestuous relationship that there aren't any physicians available to provide an abortion for her because they will face criminal charges if they do?

I just don't understand it, folks, and I don't see how anyone with any common sense or compassion can justify this stance.

Peace and love, my brothers and sisters.