Sure you can do that, but it’s more work for both parties assuming the message hasn’t been read. I’m just saying that both Signal and WhatsApp have had this feature for quite some time now and it has come in handy for me a few times already.

That’s certainly an issue, but for me it was already quite useful for deleting unread obsolete messages (e.g. deleting “can you bring milk” after you realized that there still is some), or messages accidentally sent to the wrong person. I think limiting to a short time frame and/or only unread messages would solve most of the possible abuse.