On principal, the idea of using the death penalty as a punishment for abortion is completely absurd. 

According to texastribune.org, a Texas lawmaker recently filed a bill that would completely deny all access to abortion and make having one illegal. Pregnant people and physicians who go through with an abortion would then face criminal charges that could include the dealth penatly (as they could be charged with assault or homicide, punishable by death in Texas). This bill does not exclude situations regarding rape or incest. The makers of the proposed bill claim that abortion is murder, yet want to punish it with… murder. 

Personhood can only begin once a fetus becomes viable (able to survive outside of the womb), not at conception. Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy, not a baby; fetuses are not concious, self-determining beings. The unborn are not factored into census population counts, nor are birthdays measured beginning at conception. Abortion is not murder; it is a way for people who did not intend on becoming pregnant to survive. 

Though abortion is legal in the U.S. owing to Roe v. Wade, the degree to which abortion is accessible varies heavily from state to state. In Alabama, though abortion is legal, there are many restrictions that make actually getting an abortion very difficult. Contrarily, according to deathpenaltyinfo.org, not only is the death penalty completely legal in the state of Alabama, but Alabama is ranked fifth in the U.S. for death penalty executions per capita. Alabama has numerous laws specifically targeted at making it the most difficult it can be to obtain an abortion, yet the state penalizes criminals with death at a rate that is fifth highest in the nation. 

At the end of the day, nobody is a proponent of abortion but rather an advocate for pregnant people’s rights. The issue that must instead be tackled is reducing unintended pregnancies in the first place. Rather than fighting abortion and trying to control pregnant people’s bodies, more effort and money must be alloted to affordable and accessible birth control and other contraceptives, as well as emergency contraceptives, sex education and of course improving the already struggling and overflowing foster care system. Outlawing abortion will not stop people from having them; it will just make them far more dangerous. Keep abortions safe and accessible.