unwanted widespread coercion unsafe
teens & moms at risk unfair
injustice to all involved
hope & healing you are not alone
facts
unwanted abortions | 64% of women surveyed report being pressured into unwanted abortions.2 8 out of 10 said it’s unlikely they’d have aborted if others had supported them.3 52% felt rushed, 54% unsure; yet 67% received no counseling.2 79% were not informed about alternatives.2 84% reported that they did not receive adequate counseling.2 45% of men interviewed at abortion clinics recalled urging abortion (including 37% of married men).4 In 95% of all cases the male partner played a central role in the decision.9 Simply being pregnant places women at higher risk of being attacked.8 Murder is the leading cause of death among pregnant women.7 A former abortion clinic security guard testified that women were routinely threatened and abused by the boyfriends and husbands who took them to the clinics to make sure they underwent their scheduled abortions.5 Women and girls are often pushed by clinic staff who sell abortions.6 In many cases, a trusted pastor, physician, parent or counselor made the decision. A survey of women seeking help after abortions found that up to 80% would have given birth if they'd had support and encouragement from family and friends.3 Many men, women and families feel betrayed by expert coercion, deception or non-support. |
| unwanted widespread coercion
“I once received training in how to close a sale.
This 'counselor' must have been to the same sales training seminars. There was a momentary lull in the bulldozing, when I almost blurted out,
'What sort of commission do you get?' but I didn't. I just sat there and wept.
I was never asked how I felt, or what I wanted." - Mary  | I collapsed in sheer exhaustion.
I told her that I had been outside for hours.
I cried hysterically curled over with my head in my hands on my knees. I said that 'I feel like I'm depriving my child of life.' Our conversation was cut short by the doctor. The pressure was on. I stopped crying in disbelief when the counselor told me that if I was going to abort then I would have to do it right now. The counselor said 'Look, I'll give you five minutes to think about it and when I come back, I want your answer.' Now I was going into a state of panic and shock. I could barely speak ... The counselor glared at me, sighed a deep sigh and said 'Look, they're all waiting for you, you know' ... in the end I weakly obeyed their commands.
– Genevieve, in Giving Sorrow Words |
stereotypes about "choice" betray those whose experience was quite different ... |
"The rhetoric of choice
suggests there are a lot of choices, all good and of equal weight ...
it suggests no coercion, direct or indirect." – Melinda Tankard Reist Abortion is not about a woman’s freedom to choose according to her conscience — studies show that the "decision" often stems from the demands, threats or non-support of others who may have significant influence over their lives ... even when it violates the mother's own beliefs, values and desire to keep the baby.1 Women who have had abortions come from all walks of life. ... but despite their many differences, many feel that they were deceived and manipulated. Many were directly or indirectly forced into unwanted abortions. Many are determined to save other women from the same fate. For these women, abortion is not some great "privilege" which has been granted to their gender. Instead, they see it as a tool by which women have been abandoned and exploited. Contrary to the popular slogan "freedom of choice," women who have experienced it know that abortion is seldom, if ever, about free, fair or fully informed "choice." It is often a demand, an ultimatum, a threat, a shell game or an unfair substitute for authentic support. 
The night I told him I was pregnant, he destroyed our apartment.
He was screaming at me, telling me I was a whore, slut, pig, you name it. He told me that the kid would be retarded, abnormal, and to get rid of it. NOW! The whole time he cornered me in the bedroom, throwing things and killing me with his words. ... He was so mean. ... His eyes were so black with anger. … The abortion ripped my world apart. – Mary, in Forbidden Grief [My parents] ... told me to leave the house and forget that I was their daughter. I left the house with no job, no money, no home and nowhere to turn, feeling utterly abandoned and alone. Still, I was certain I would not get an abortion. I wanted my child. ... my father sent several messages urging me to have an abortion. I refused. But as I began to feel more desperate, I shut down my feelings ... functioning more like a surreal observer than someone in control. ... No one explained to me the baby’s development or what the abortion would be like. ... I lay there just wishing that I could die. – Theresa Bonopartis Every Tuesday, a bus picked up students from all the area high schools
and took them to the Planned Parenthood clinic. … it was all so organized. …They were all particularly careful to find out when my parents would not be home … On the bus, I felt as though I had no control over what was happening to me… still today, I feel like I did not decide to have the abortion. – Gaylene link to these and other stories
Coercion often includes threats from others inconvenienced by a pregnancy. It can escalate to violence. Women have been forced into clinics or restrained when they tried to escape an unwanted abortion. Other women don't know how to end the abuse or fear the alternative and ultimately lose the will or ability to fight. Women who refuse to abort have been subjected to terrible abuses, such as forced injections, stabbings, beatings, strangulation, gunshots, and even bombings. Violence can escalate to murder if women won't abort. Homicide is the leading cause of death for pregnant women.7 These excerpts are from the 22-page Forced Abortion Report:
Mother forces 15-year-old daughter at gunpoint
In Florida, Glenda D. was charged with forcing her daughter at gunpoint to go to an abortion clinic, where clinic workers called police. According to a staff member, Glenda said that if her daughter did not have the abortion, “I’m going to blow her brains out.” Police said Glenda told staff to perform the abortion even though her daughter “may seem a bit teary.”
Husband beats wife with log after she refuses abortion, newborn dies
Leah H. of Missouri testified that her husband beat her with a log after she refused to have an abortion. Jason H. was charged with second-degree murder after their son was born three months premature and died. Hit man hired to shoot pregnant mother
Angelique M. was 30 pregnant when she was shot repeatedly by a masked gunman as she was walking home with children from a nearby elementary school in Chicago. Her daughter was wounded, but survived. Police said the man had been hired to shoot Angelique. 21-year-old woman beaten and shot twice after refusing abortion
The body of 21-year-old Lorena Rivera was found in a shallow grave in Oklahoma City.
21 weeks pregnant, she had been shot twice and beaten. Police said Nathanial S. murdered Lorena because she refused an abortion and he didn't want to pay child support. more info and resources about coerced, forced abortion ... citations for this page: click here |
