Recently, Donald Trump indicated that if abortion were illegal, mothers should somehow be punished for having their children aborted. Although he quickly took back his statement (and cited the mother as the victim), it’s an interesting issue.
Suppose that a doctor delivers a baby and places the baby on the mother’s belly. Then she asks the doctor to kill the crying baby. He takes a scalpel and kills the baby. This is murder, and both the mother and the doctor are accomplices.
Now suppose that a few days or months earlier, the mother goes to the doctor and asks him to kill the baby in her womb. He takes a scalpel (or a chemical) and kills the baby. This is still murder, and both the mother and the doctor are accomplices. How is the mother the victim here?