Bombs, bullets, and abortion: Here are the facts that Ilyse Hogue and NARAL Pro-Choice America don’t want you to know

Ilyse Hogue is the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, and she’s a little upset. Yes, I know–that’s nothing new.

What is new, however, is the target of her wrath. When the crowdfunding website GoFundMe.com recently announced that it will no longer raise money to pay for abortions, Ms. Hogue wasn’t pleased. In response, she put out a mass email accusing GoFundMe of subjecting “one in three women” to “stigma, shame, or judgment.” This, she explained, is because the site also prohibits fundraising on behalf of terrorist organizations. According to NARAL’s president, that means GoFundMe must “consider abortion in the same category as terrorism and violence.”

I’m not sure if the people at GoFundMe really believe that abortion belongs “in the same category” as “terrorism and violence,” but it would make sense if they did. According to some research, over half of women who have abortions do so under pressure, while those who resist can face violence and death.

Terrorist groups like al-Qaeda are well known for using bombs to kill women and children. Joseph Minerd took the same approach: the Pennsylvania man was convicted of using homemade explosives to murder his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Deana Mitts, after she refused to have an abortion. Also killed in the blast was Mitts’ 3 year-old daughter.

Not everyone in Mr. Minerd’s position resorts to such dramatic methods; simple guns, knives, and blunt objects seem to work just fine.

Shamari Jenkins was shot to death after she  refused her boyfriend’s demands for an abortion. Hawa Gabbidon met the same fate. Apparently Tanner Hopkins wasn’t as good of a marksman; although he fired a semiautomatic pistol into his girlfriend’s car at close range, both she and their unborn child survived.

Tasha Rossett’s boyfriend preferred to cut his way out of an unwanted pregnancy; the 23 year-old woman was found dead with a slashed throat after she argued against aborting their child.  Alex Santana seems to have had the same idea. He stabbed his girlfriend,  28 year-old Leah Diver, after declaring that she was going to have an abortion “one way or the other.”

Nathanael Plourde opted to bury his problems when he submerged his pregnant girlfriend, Roxanne Fernando, under a snowbank.  Beating her to death first probably made doing that a lot easier.

Even a blanket can get the job done: 20 year-old Christian Ferdinand admitted that he used one to smother his 14 year-old girlfriend, Shaniesha Forbes, before setting her on fire. The reason? Ms. Forbes declared that she was pregnant and became uncooperative when her boyfriend requested that she exercise her right to choose.  Given cases like these, it’s not surprising that the Center for Disease Control lists homicide as a leading cause of death among pregnant women.

Abortion is a great option for abusers. After all, a trip to the clinic is a lot cheaper than 18 years of child support. It’s even more useful when the victim is underage, as a pregnancy tends to raise awkward questions.  The good news (for predators) is that there’s a group of dedicated professionals who are ready and willing to turn incriminating young lives into medical waste.

John Blanks Jr. brought his teenage daughter to a Planned Parenthood facility after he raped and impregnated her. Clinic staff aborted her child and then returned her to Mr. Banks, who promptly resumed the abuse. Gary Cross did the same thing with his step daughter. So did Timothy Smith. Denise Fairbanks alleged in a lawsuit that she explicitly informed Planned Parenthood clinic employees that she was being forced to have an abortion by her incestuous father. Apparently that wasn’t a concern.

Sometimes a predator doesn’t even need to visit Planned Parenthood in order to benefit from their services. Alleged serial rapist Tyler Kost is believed to have a sexually assaulted over a dozen teenage girls in Arizona, with at least one victim becoming pregnant and going to Planned Parenthood for an abortion. The fifteen year old says she was told by staff that doing extra paperwork to report the pregnancy as a rape just wasn’t worth the effort. The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office didn’t agree, stating that an investigation could have been started “months before” Kost was arrested if only the report had been filed.

None of this should come as a surprise to Planned Parenthood’s leadership. Ex-clinic director Abby Johnson and six other former employees have signed an open letter to Congress stating that Planned Parenthood’s polices are inadequate to protect women from violence and coercion. They’ve also seen the undercover video recordings that Live Action has made of Planned Parenthood staff who were willing to arrange involuntary abortions on minors who “can’t speak English” and “won’t know what’s going on“– behavior that deserves (as Ms. Hogue would put it) some “stigma, shame, or judgment.”

Of course, none of that has stopped people like Ilyse Hogue from defending Planned Parenthood. NARAL’s chief supports the half billion in federal funding that Planned Parenthood receives, while her Democratic friends in Congress have denounced efforts to investigate it as a “witch hunt.”

If you’d rather not have your tax dollars go to Planned Parenthood, then you’re welcome to sign Live Action’s petition seeking to have it defunded. You can find it here, along with additional  proof of the group’s wrongdoing.

And, if you or someone you know is being intimidated into having an abortion, then please contact local law enforcement authorities. You can also visit OptionLine.org, call their toll-free number at 800-712-HELP, or simply text HELPLINE to 313131 in order to learn more about pregnancy care resources that are available in your area. The website StandUpGirl.com may assist you in networking with women who have been in similar situations. Finally, you can find couples looking to adopt at ParentProfiles.com and Adoptimist.com.

An unplanned pregnancy can bring significant challenges to a woman; “terrorism and violence” shouldn’t be among them.