Republican Debate: No! Not the "Should the Woman Be Punished for Abortion" Question! Run away!

Two unfortunate candidates were forced to respond in last night debate to a viewer's question asking whether women should be punished for illegal abortions.  Both Ron Paul and Fred Thompson appeared much like the terrified Sir Robin in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, who said of the viscious rabbit guarding the cave of Caerbannog:  "Would it help confuse it if we run away more?" 

The candidates squirmed as they suggested the issue was, of course, one for the states, and that it was not the President's job to tell states what to do.  Mysteriously, the audience enthusiastically applauded this response.  In eschewing a role for the federal government in punishing abortion, the candidates (and their audience) seemed to forget that Congress recently enacted, and President Bush eagerly signed, the first-ever federal criminal ban on abortion procedures.  Both candidates expressed discomfort with the idea of punishing women for obtaining illegal abortions (although Dr. Paul appeared ready to sacrifice his colleagues in the medical profession), once again undermining the often-heard assertion that abortion is murder.

See the exchange on video (scroll down to question number 16).  See the written debate transcript.

For more on Republicans' evasions on whether to punish the woman for what they claim is murder, see Assignment for Robert Novak.