Judge Ronald Alvarez joins the list of death culture activists by ruling that a 13-year-old girl - a ward of the state of Florida - can kill her unborn child - this after a legal battle between the state and the ACLU.

From WaPo:

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A judge ruled that a 13-year-old girl at the center of an abortion fight with the state may terminate her pregnancy, and Gov. Jeb Bush said Tuesday that the state will not appeal further.

Juvenile Judge Ronald Alvarez ruled Monday that the teen, who has been in state custody for four years, would not be physically or emotionally harmed by the procedure. Last week, Alvarez blocked the girl's abortion until a psychological evaluation was completed.

Florida judges - already having pushed the envelope in the plight of Terri Schindler Schiavo: concluding that her lack of competence in the face of her husband's desire to kill her was sufficient reason that she die - now concludes that a 13-year-old is competent enough to choose to murder her unborn child. Hmmm ... it appears that Florida judges will just choose the side of death - even for opposing reasons on the same issue.

As well, the judge now makes argument on his own behalf and claims prescience saying that the girl: "would not be physically or emotionally harmed by the procedure" - with all of the credible evidence about both "physical and emotional harm" associated with "the procedure" for the mother, the judge ascribes to himself some god-like power. Who will oppose him?

The judge didn't rule about the "physical and emotional harm" suffered by the unnamed child. When the time comes (it may have come already), the flailing arms and hands and the expression of utter horror on the little face of the human being as it attempts to avoid the instrument of death has no meaning to this judge or the ACLU.

Unfortunately, once again, we see the Florida executive powerless in the face of tyranny by the judiciary. Apparently, that state has accepted murder by judicial fiat - whatever the guise - and however far the judiciary pushes the limits of common decency.

James Joyner at Outside the Beltway has this to say regarding the 'age of competency' - and the apparent role of the judiciary in the process:

We have a bizarre morass of ages wherein people are held to be responsible enough to make decisions. A 13-year-old can't drive, purchase a pack of cigarettes, or have a beer for many years. On the other hand, they are often tried as adults if they kill someone. Unless it's a fetus, in which case a judge has to decide for them.

A ward of the state - who escaped the state for long enough to become pregnant - is still a ward of the state - and the state is responsible for the well being of that ward - and in this case that ward's progeny - just as if the state itself were the ward's parents. That the state is abdicating that responsibility without appeal continues the chilling ascendancy of the culture of death in our midst.