The Oregon District Attorney who refused to let woman held on bail get an abortion explains his reasoning.

The Oregon District Attorney that refused to allow pregnant Bridget Burkholder, who was being held after allegedly preparing to set a herself and a hotel room on fire, her requested abortion made his and his fellow legal team’s reasoning more clear in a recent News Register article, saying Burkholder was in no more of a mental state to choose to terminate a pregnancy than to decide she wanted a boob job.

District Attorney Brad Berry said the case raises very difficult issues. First and foremost, he said, is the issue of Burkholder’s mental competence to make an informed decision with such long-term consequences. He said that allowing a mentally incompetent person to undergo any elective medical procedure raises potential red flags legally. He raised the question, “If we wouldn’t allow her to have her breasts reduced in this state,” or have a benign tumor removed, how could she be allowed to choose an abortion? He said a guardian might have to be appointed to make that decision for her. Sex. Abortion. Parenthood. Power. The latest news, delivered straight to your inbox. SUBSCRIBE

Deciding on abortion is like choosing a form of cosmetic surgery? Way to make it clear that not carrying a pregnancy to term is equivalent of an unnecessary, elective surgery often seem to be taken on purely for vanity’s sake.