For those who are wondering about why Castro may face the Death Penalty, here are a few facts about the state and abortion(source: Guttmacher Institute)
In 2008, 6.4 million of the 62 women of reproductive age(15-44) in the US were with child. Of that, 66% of the pregnancies resulted in live births, 19% ended up being aborted, and 15% were miscarriages.
In Ohio, 215,500 of the 2,290,946 women of reproductive age became pregnant in 2008. 69% of these pregnancies resulted in live births and 16% in induced abortions.
In 2008, 1.2 million American women obtained abortions, producing a rate of 19.6 abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age. The rate is virtually unchanged from 2005, when the abortion rate was 19.4 abortions per 1,000 women 15-44.
In 2008, 33,550 women obtained abortions in Ohio, producing a rate of 14.7 abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age. Some of these women were from other states, and some Ohio residents had abortions in other states, so this rate may not reflect the abortion rate of state residents. The rate decreased 1% since 2005, when it was 14.9 abortions per 1,000 women 15-44. Abortions in Ohio represent 2.8% of all abortions in the United States.
Having said all of that, here are the restrictions to abortion in Ohio:
- A woman must receive state-directed counseling that includes information designed to discourage her from having an abortion and then wait 24 hours before the procedure is provided. Counseling must be provided in person and must take place before the waiting period begins, thereby necessitating two separate trips to the facility.
- Health plans that will be offered in the states health exchange that will be established under the federal health care reform law can only cover abortion in cases when the woman's life is endangered, rape or incest.
- Abortion is covered in insurance policies for public employees only in cases of life endangerment, rape or incest.
- Medication abortion must be provided using the FDA protocol, thereby preventing the use of a more common, simpler evidence-based regimen.
- The parent of a minor must consent before an abortion is provided.
- Public funding is available for abortion only in cases of life endangerment, rape or incest.
Castro did none of these things while he was raping those three women, including going to the abortion doctor! Now I haven't read the incident report, and I, to be honest, don't want to, but if Knight is complaining about five miscarriages by way of starvation and assault, then that is murder because Castro didn't go through the proper procedures in getting that baby aborted.
