13-year old fights for abortion: In the same state where Jeb Bush made Terri Schiavo's death into a media spectacle, another equally troubling case is shaping up. The state of Florida is trying to force a pregnant 13-year old girl, a ward of the state who lives in a Department of Children and Family [DCF] shelter, to carry the fetus to full term. It raises tough "culture of life" issues—as the girl herself seems to understand all too well. Excerpts from an exchange with Circuit Judge Ronald Alvarez:

Girl: Why can't I make my own decision?

Alvarez: I don't know.

Girl: You don't know? Aren't you the judge?

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Girl: I think if I want to make the decision [to have an abortion], it's my business and I can do that... It would make no sense to have the baby... I don't think I should have the baby because I'm 13, I'm in a shelter and I can't get a job... DCF would take the baby anyway... If I do have it, I'm not going to let them take it.

Girl: Since you guys are supposedly here for the best interest of me, then wouldn't you all look at that fact that it'd be more dangerous for me to have the baby than to have an abortion?

An expert in obstetrics and gynecology testified that "At her age and at her stage of gestation... her risk of death from an abortion procedure is about 1 in 34,000. The risk of death in pregnancy is about 1 in 10,000."

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