By Michelle Albert Last May, a 17 year-old girl in Utah paid a man $150 dollars to beat her up—kicking her in the stomach—in the hopes of inducing a miscarriage. The baby survived, and the assailant was sent to jail, reports the New York Times. Now, a bill criminalizing illegal abortion is waiting for Utah's governor's signature. On the surface, this seems redundant: An illegal abortion is a criminal act. Utah's laws define all abortions as illegal unless the health of the mother is at stake, the mother is a victim of rape of incest or the child would be born with serious defects. Any other reason, no matter how sensible it may seem to the mother, is illegal. The implications for such a bill are huge. Exodus 21:22 deals with violent abortions in a somewhat similar way: And...

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