So beatings are now a form of contraception?

Get this, according to the Salt Lake Tribune:

A judge has released a 17-year-old Vernal girl from jail after ruling she did not commit a crime when she allegedly paid a man to beat her in an attempt to end her late-term pregnancy…Eighth District Juvenile Court Judge Larry Steele sided with attorney Rich King, who argued under Utah law and around the country women are not held criminally liable for soliciting an abortion. “Women may use any procedure or method of terminating pregnancy, by abortion or by miscarriage, and they cannot be charged with a crime,” King said.

Judge Steele called the girl’s actions to end her seven-month pregnancy “shocking and crude” in a four-page ruling Thursday, but said her actions “fit the definition for an abortion. As such, she cannot be held criminally liable for her actions pursuant to the Utah abortion statutes.”

Steele said a law protecting women who seek abortions from prosecution does not include the word “medical” when referring to procedures used to abort a fetus so it’s ok to hire a local thug to beat your unborn baby to death.

You want to know the worst part. The judge has a point even if he doesn’t know it. People are going to be all outraged over this (as they should be) but look at what we’re really arguing about. The method of killing. That’s it.

I don’t think the baby really cares if it’s killed by a man with a stethoscope in a white coat or a thug with slicked back hair wearing a wife beater. Who cares if the baby’s killer is a member of the AMA or the local Rugby team?

The argument over whether we should burning babies to death in the womb or beat them to death is not one, I think, is worth having. Both, to me, seem equally brutal. And to the baby as well, I’m sure.

If former boxers need work, who are we to stand in their way? If they can do the job cheaper, the government should let them, right? Hey, Obama’s been looking for a way to lessen the cost of healthcare so this would seem to help.

In fact, the people I think should be most offended by this are abortionists who will be offended because the man only charged $150 to kill the baby. He’s undercutting them. And they can’t have that.

And here comes the coup de grace. It’s a good news/bad news thing. Ready? The good news is that the baby in this case actually survived the beating and lived. The bad news is that the baby’s mother is now fighting for custody of the child. Come on. You expected otherwise?