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Comment by micromacrofoot | Hacker News Reader

Outright ghoulish behavior from Facebook. They didn't even put up a fight.

And for Nebraska to put this 17 year old on trial as an adult is doubly cruel.

This isn't really a good case to build sympathy on. She didn't abort with a doctor's assistance, it was fairly late, and she hid the remains. This would have been illegal across most of the US.

And in Europe.

Untrue. Abortion is legal until 40 weeks in every EU country and fully paid for by universal healthcare.

This is wildly inaccurate. Poland, an EU country, bans abortion in most cases.[0] Many other EU countries have gestational restrictions.

[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Poland

I didn't have to look too hard to find that it's 22 weeks in Germany [0] (excluding exceptional cases) and seems to be fairly similar for other Western European nations.

[0] http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stgb/englisch_stg...

Got a source for that? This wikipedia page says you are flat out wrong and not even remotely close to the truth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Europe

10 weeks in Portugal

I don't think there was anything jolly happy going through her psyche when she did that

It doesn't seem so hard to me to feel empathy towards a 17 year old girl that found out she was pregnant around the same time the Supreme Court leaked the overturning of Roe v Wade.

That's certainly not a recipe for making good decisions, and now since she's being tried as an adult she not only has to live with a criminal record, but her name being blasted all over the place while living in an abortion-hostile state.

She is alleged to have aborted the fetus in April. The SCOTUS leak was in May. She was 23 weeks pregnant, she should have consulted with a doctor early in 2022. Tough to blame this on the Roe controversy when it hadn't even started yet.

This is very easy for you to say. Are you a teenage girl? Do you live in a dark-red state? Have you ever tried to consult a doctor in Nebraska about abortion?

As if deep red areas of the country are unfamiliar with abortion? They are very familiar with keeping it under the radar, but fine upstanding evangelical Christians absolutely still have abortions.

Also, there are three Planned Parenthood clinics in Omaha, Nebraska, less than two hours from Madison County. This young woman was less than a year from being legally an adult. I'd give it good odds that my 11 year old daughter could figure out she should talk to a doctor in this situation, and I sure as hell hope that by 17 she's definitely figured that out.

  - Only 3 clinics in the state, all 2 hours away
  - Only 1 clinic performs abortion at 20 weeks
  - Requires a 24 hour wait period by law
  - Requires parental consent under 18
  - Between 16-20 weeks, costs $2500-$5000

These are all pretty significant barriers for anyone without resources, especially a teen trying to hide her pregnancy.

Oh fair, I didn't follow the timeline, my mistake. Nebraska is still an abortion-hostile state though.

She aborted at 23 WEEKS

Yeah the fetus was 6 months old. That's a baby at that point if it is outside of her womb. She could have easily given birth and it would have gone on to live a completely normal life. I'm pro abortion generally, but you need to do it long before the fetus is viable.

Sorry but are you really saying 'easily' and 'given birth' after eachother? Have you ever witnessed a birth? And how do you know it would have gone on to live a completely normal life? What kind of disney movie do you live in?

By easily, I meant that the baby would have good chances of survival. It wouldn't be fighting against 1% odds and require $100M expenditures in the NICU

Yes, I've witnessed a birth.

Most babies born go on to live normal lives. Do you really think I was implying I was a mindreader, and I know the baby would have a normal life, rather than just saying the odds are good?

You interpreted my comment 100% in bad faith which is pretty lame for HN. You might feel more comfortable on reddit.

23 weeks is very possible to have a 100% healthy kid with modern medicine. I have very little sympathy in this case.

So sure, investigate the situation... figure out how a minor ended up pregnant and make sure that the abortion was voluntary. Perhaps fine her and place her on probation due to the circumstances, and get her mental health counseling.

But to put her on trial as an adult seems more like vengeance than justice.

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