Every day, there is another angle to this very difficult issue. 

Last year, a 17 year old pregnant girl paid a man $150 to beat her in the hopes of inducing a miscarriage.  Don’t read any further – just think about that young woman for a few seconds and what compelled her to take such a drastic step…

To complicate her already sad situation, she was arrested but ultimately a judge ruled that the mother could not be charged with a crime because there was no law on the books dealing with such a situation.   Yesterday, however, the legislature (which apparently has absolutely nothing to do) and the Governor of Utah came to the rescue!   The Governor signed into law a bill that would allow a woman who arranges such an “illegal abortion” to be charged with criminal homicide.   

I’ve thought about this young woman and have wondered why she did not obtain a safe, legal abortion in her home state.  There are at least three clinics in Salt Lake City that she could have gone to. 

Maybe she could not afford to pay the approximately $400 for the abortion at the clinic. My gut, however, tells me that she was afraid, especially living in a state like Utah, to pick up the phone and arrange to have an abortion. 

The abortion stigma indeed has long tentacles.