Several readers have rightly corrected me. We have banned murder. But we haven’t stopped it. From a reader:
We have successfully banned theft and murder. Those bans will never be
enforced to perfection and to insist that they be is utopian, just as 100%
enforcement of an absolute abortion ban would be.
I think the right analogy is the enviromental movement, and the utopian
insistence of many conservationists on laws and regulations that will never
be enacted because there will never be the political will to do so. The
environmental movement, by insisting on positions that are political
impossibilities, weakens its support and achieves less than it might by
taking less extreme positions. A good thing, if you ask me. But I expect
the same applies for abortion foes. Also a good thing, if you ask me,
which, admittedly, you didn’t.