“Thus we should not have prosecuted Andrea Yates, but instead prosecuted the utility that provided the water to fill the bathtub.”
If the utility knew what she was going to use the water for, gave it to her, then came over and held the baby under for her, certainly we should have prosecuted them.
Anyway, the whole idea of not prosecuting the women is a pragmatic consideration, not one based on principle. Of course, if we held to strict moral principles, the women are just as culpable, perhaps even more. Yet, if we go around saying “we need to prosecute these women”, there is no way in hell we’d ever get abortion banned again. So if you are anti-abortion and would like to end it, just for pragmatic reasons, you probably don’t want to say things like that.
“Of course, if we held to strict moral principles, the women are just as culpable...”
Perhaps we should stick with moral principles.