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The moral dilemma posed by the abortion issue is often expressed through its most vocal arguments commonly known as the "right to life" and "the woman's right to choose" or as it is often simplified as the choice of morality versus freedom. There is however a much more rational point of view from which to address the issue; practicality.

If abortions were criminalized, what would society look like? Lets first assume we have an efficient and proficient government where laws are enforced logically. We would begin by defining the crime objectively as the intentional termination of the gestation of an unborn human, without medical cause, for the purpose of destroying the unborn. We would then define the criminal as a person or persons who intentionally act, without medical cause, to terminate a pregnancy for the purpose of destroying the unborn.

Now that we have a defined crime and have a defined criminal, we can begin enforcement. So the first step would be a ban and immediate closure of all abortion clinics. Hospitals would be allowed to carry out abortions if prescribed under medical treatment. This latter point would be consistent with court rulings across the nation and it would most likely continue as an exception to the abortion ban. Also, all persons involved in an abortion previous to the enactment of the ban would be immune from prosecution.

There is an added moral contingency when discussing victims of rape. For the sake of simplicity we will ignore that issue at this point, although we should all be aware of the complexity it brings to the issue in the real world.

The government, now empowered by law, can begin to track illegal underground abortion operations. This would most likely involve Federal and local law enforcement. So, thanks to undercover stings, the government begins to round up these criminals.

The question that arises is then, what do you do with the mother? As an active participant, is a pregnant woman who seeks as abortion, a criminal? If an exception is made to define the criminal as anyone involved in the termination of an unborn child, who is not the mother of that child, then the law has a loophole. Essentially, the practice of abortion would not be illegal, it would simply be illegal to help a woman carry out the abortion of her child. So by redefining the criminal we redefine the crime. But, how can aiding in a legal act be deemed illegal?

So to exempt the mother from prosecution, would lead to

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