Does One Month Make that Big of a Difference?

I wish I hadn't but today I read the twisted story of a woman who killed her one-month old child:

A woman was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the chance for parole for burning her baby daughter to death in a microwave after fighting with her boyfriend. Common Pleas Judge Mary Wiseman lashed out at 28-year-old China Arnold....

"No adjectives exist to adequately describe this heinous atrocity,"Wiseman said. "This act is shocking and utterly abhorrent for a civilized society."

Shocking, despicable, unimaginable, depraved, horrific, ... all words that rightly describe the crime. But Kyrie Eleison asks a sobering question: what difference does "one month" make? Or two months for that matter.

A legally controlled personal choice becomes a shocking and utterly abhorrent crime in just 2-3 months? What if the child was born prematurely at only seven months?

Perhaps you see what I'm getting at. The age of the child is arbitrary and doesn't really matter. According to our government (with the exception of Barack Obama), what makes the crime abhorrent is the location of the baby. If the baby is in the womb murder is a "choice". If she is outside of the womb (no matter what age), the act is a horrific crime.

No, one month makes no difference at all. What puts a child in grave danger w/out legal protection is being inside his or her mother's womb.