Abortion is not the answer to rising numbers of pregnant women dying by homicide 

Over 50 years ago, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, in his book, “Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community,” wrote, “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.” 

On the heels of a November study indicating that homicide has now surpassed natural causes of maternal mortality, abortion advocates are pushing the agenda that abortion will save pregnant women from death. In fact, a recent New Republic article argued that “access to abortion can mean the difference between life and death.” 

This study revealed a heinous reality facing pregnant woman today, but abortion advocates who tout the killing of a preborn child as the remedy are missing the mark. Abortion — an inherently violent act — is not the answer. Dr. King’s quote is an apt reminder that violence doesn’t solve violence.

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According to the study, pregnant women are 16% more likely than their non-pregnant counterparts to die by homicide. As Live Action News previously reported, homicide exceeded all the leading causes of maternal mortality by more than twofold, with women under 24 and Black women most at risk. Many of these women die at the hands of their partners.

These grim statistics serve as an important reminder that women in abusive relationships need support and resources to escape the abusive situation. And, in some cases, a woman becomes the target of violence by her partner when she refuses to have an abortion. For example, Tassila Kenha, 24, was tragically murdered by her boyfriend after she refused an abortion. Sadly, Kenha’s situation is not unique — over 60% of women undergoing abortion experience say they have experienced outside pressure to do so. And many other women have been killed or have seen their children killed at the hands of a partner coercing them to choose abortion. 

When abortion is presented as the answer to high numbers of pregnant women dying by homicide, we surrender power to abusers — we tell them they have won. Not only is violence perpetrated on the woman, but also on the preborn child through abortion, creating a cycle of violence. 

The author of the recent New Republic article claiming that abortion is a “lifeline” for pregnant women eschewed Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s assertion during arguments over Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban that adoption is an alternative to abortion. Barrett also brought up safe haven laws, which allow women to surrender their babies for adoption without criminal penalties, noting that these laws make the burden of parenthood discussed in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey obsolete. 

READ: Serial abuser in Scotland threatened woman, ‘Have an abortion or I will kill the baby’

“It doesn’t seem to follow that pregnancy and then parenthood are all part of the same burden,” Barrett stated. “And so it seems to me that the choice, more focused, would be between, say, the ability to get an abortion at 23 weeks, or the state requiring the woman to go 15, 16 weeks more and then terminate parental rights at the conclusion.”

However, the author of the New Republic article noted that pregnancy can be a dangerous time, especially with pregnant women increasingly becoming the target of violent actions, including homicide. The author is not wrong in noting this — it is egregious that homicide has become the leading cause of maternal mortality. But the author gets it wrong by claiming that abortion is the silver bullet to solve this problem. 

“What Barrett and her fellow anti-abortion advocates are promoting is not just an assault on abortion rights but an actual assault on pregnant people — a form of state-sanctioned violence that would bring with it life-altering, and for some, life-ending consequences,” the author claimed.

However, the opposite is true — advocating for abortion literally brings about life-ending consequences. Abortion is violence. Every day, approximately 2,363 preborn babies are killed by abortion in the United States. Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 ruling Roe v. Wade legalizing abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, nearly 62 million preborn lives have been violently and purposefully ended.

It is abominable to suggest that women need to abort their babies to avoid being killed by their partners. Women in abusive relationships shouldn’t be forced to have abortions so that they can live without fear of being murdered. 

Women, especially in domestic violence situations, deserve better than to be told abortion is the answer to their safety concerns. Women and their children, both born and unborn, deserve to feel safe. Telling women that abortion is the answer to their situation is an extension of the abuse. Moreover, it doesn’t save them from their abusive situations. 

If you are a victim of domestic violence, please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline, or call 1-800-799-SAFE.

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