Comments about ‘Judge releases beaten teen, citing state's abortion law’

The person she paid shouldn't have "helped".

Why didn't she go to planned parenthood? If there is an age thing can't she be charged for getting one without parental permission? She should be charged with something.

Kristine

murder is murder oh but this is utah ...land of the double standard!!

@K

Yes it is crude and disgusting, but charged with what?

Her method isn't really that much more barbaric than going to a clinic.

Of all the sick people in this case (girl, her 'helper', the judge), the judge is the sickest of 'em all.

This method of attempted abortion was more painful for the mother then going to the clinic, but less so for the baby, who actually survived the attempt on his/her life.

The mother could have gone to a clinic and had the baby fatablly slashed and stabbed by a licensed physician, and there would be no news story and no criminal charges. Ain't "choice" great!

The judge is the most sick? Are you kidding me? The judge is held to follow Utah code! He can't create law that isn't in the code. Become a little more educated before you point fingers at who you think is "the most sick"

amazingly unbelievable.....

What kind of boyfriend tells a girl he'll finish with her if she doesn't have an abortion? Seems to me this guy doesn't deserve her, anyway.

The guy who beat her up, paid or not, should receive harsh punishment...you just don't treat people like that.

seems to me this poor girl is surrounded by people who only pretend to like her, and needs help.

The judge made the right decision, based on present legislation. You can't call one method of termination legal, and another murder, just because yuo don't agree with the choice. All abortion is murder, and should never have been legalised in the first place. However, having made abortion legal, the method used, however seemingly barbaric (in my view, even clinical abortion is barbaric), is purely the mother's choice. That's the law, end of. If you don't like it, then making all abortion illegal is the only logical conclusion.

The solution would of been to put the baby up for adoption. Boyfriend: no child support. Pregnant teen: no baby. Married couple who wants a baby: a baby. Wow. That would of been so easy.

@Chris: Why don't you research how many kids there are out there that are not adopted. It's not that easy, and once kids get older, the less likely they are to be adopted. Kind of grosses me out: It's like going to a pet store and looking at all the cute pups. We need to put efforts into stopping these pregnancies in the first place. Abstinence only is not working at all, but most in Utah say sex education need to only be taught by parents. Yeah, right. You know how many bishops' daughters I know "had" to get married before graduation? You all need to get a clue!

Under most other circumstances, I would say that taking a baby away from a mother is almost unthinkable, but I believe Chris is right in this case, because the state MUST protect the life of one who cannot protect himself, and who appears to be in real and immediate danger.

The very fact that the mother attempted to end this child's life and failed means there is a reasonable fear of it being attempted again. It may have been technically legal the first time, but the second would (thankfully, still) most definitely be illegal.

As for prosecution for the attempted abortion, given that the act was ruled an "illegal abortion" (abortion performed/attempted by unlicensed persons) it appears to me that Utah defines this sort of illegal abortion as a 3rd degree felony.

If the info I found in my brief research is correct, this is punishable by 0-5 years in prison and up to $5000 in fines. The biggest problem I see here is that the 17-year old girl does not meet the criteria to be tried as an adult. Her "helper", however, is already an adult and should be prosecuted as such.

It absolutely baffles me what everyone is focussing on here. This girl would be in jail with no questions asked if Utahns weren't so laser focussed and stamping out anything that smells like abortion. She was only charged with soliciting murder so we could "punish" her for trying to get an abortion the dumb way.

If she had been charged with Aiding and abetting, and Conspiracy related to ASSAULT, there would be no questions and possible even no story. The story doesn't give enough details to be sure, but this may even be classified as AGGRAVATED ASSAULT.

But noooooo. We have to focus so much on this being abortion that we miss the obvious.

sigh...

The Helper has already received a 30 year sentence.
And baby was taken away into Child services custody.

Do not blame the Judge. The fault lies with the law as currently enacted. Go fix the law.

I feel sorry for the girl who had no support--both for the pregnancy and to obtain a legal abortion. How is it that we see the teen pregnancy rate so high but do nothing to educate our children well enough in sex education? There will still be those who allow their partner to control them: "I hate condoms--we don't need them anyway!" and "You're pregnant? Get rid of it!" If our kids had a good base education regarding sex, they'd be able to make better choices.

The teen obviously did not feel she had access to legal abortion services, and therefore, chose to submit to and participate in a barbaric act. This is sad. It may have been because of a money issue, but more likely it is because people still assign the stigma of murder to abortion. This is wrong. It should be on the level of spaying and neutering your pets. Some people still oppose fixing pets, but it is performed in the best interests of society.

RE xscribe | 9:03 a.m. Oct. 14, 2009
"@Chris: Why don't you research how many kids there are out there that are not adopted"

I see, so it's better to just terminate countless pregnancies rather than give the child a chance at life? Oh please.

I'm glad to hear both things. And I agree with others--this girl needs SERIOUS help. She is either terribly emotionally unstable or actually selfishly wicked. Neither would make her a good mom.

Her being in Utah has very little to do with this case. Abortion, sadly, is now legal in ALL states.

And xscribe, I'm so sorry you are anti-adoption. I have two sons whose wives are unable to have children, and believe me, there are many families who desperately would love and welcome a baby. One of our adopted grandkid's parents were a couple of young teenagers "in love", one came from a prison mom, another is mixed race from a mom who was terrified of an abusive boyfriend--and THEY ARE ALL OUR GRANDKIDS--loved and welcomed. They were not picked out like going to a pet store--they were rescued from sad situations. Thank God their mothers chose life for them!

The fact that the girl was so desperate to end her pregnancy that she hired someone to beat her is tragic. Perhaps we should focus on helping girls and women 1) prevent unwanted pregnancies, 2) find safe places and supportive people to help them when the do become pregnant. Babies born into these situations are rarely placed for adoption. Instead, they grow up in really tough environments that give them few choices and chances--and the cycle continues. Very sad.

I say leave the poor girl alone, maybe she felt like she didn't have very many options or choices early on? Until you've walked in her shoes, it's all speculation.

Really this just goes to prove that we need to educate our children about ALL of their choices when the reach the age of puberty. I know many, probably most, will disagree, but it's that or this situation. I say educate. Educated teens are proven to make better-informed choices, resulting in fewer pregnancies. Where is the US compared to the rest of the 1st world countries? Oh yea, we're a 3rd world country when it comes to teen pregnancies. I wonder why? Ignorance is bliss.