Canadian Olympic champion rejected abortion

Jennifer Jones is an Olympic champion and regarded by many as Canada’s greatest female curler. She’s also a mother who rejected abortion.

Key Takeaways:

• Jennifer Jones, an Olympic champion in the sport of curling, relates in her new book how she was pressured by a private support group representative to have an abortion in order to further her career.

• Jones said she was shocked when the representative attempted to persuade her to abort by telling her that another athlete had an abortion when faced with the same choice.

• Jones refused to abort her baby, believing that being an Olympic athlete and a mother at the same time was possible.

The Details:

In her new book, "Rock Star: My Life on and off the Ice" Jennifer relates how she was pressured to have an abortion in 2012 by a private support group representative after a horrific knee injury that required expensive surgery. She said her interaction with the sponsor left her “stunned.”

“I updated him about my knee and then revealed that I was pregnant. His first question to me was shocking: ‘Do you plan on keeping the baby?’”

Jones writes that the question was strange to her because it came without any hesitation, as if the sponsor had asked such questions before.

“I told him I most definitely did, and how I had wanted a baby and was overjoyed by my pregnancy. I also told him more about the surgery and how it would proceed," she wrote. "He responded by saying that another athlete they had worked with chose a different path and had had an abortion. She felt her sport was more important at this point in her life, he added.”

Jones wrote that her “jaw dropped” when she heard this. “I could tell that was the end of our conversation… it was clear to me that in this situation, my own choice would not be respected.”

She could not believe what had just happened: 

“There I was, being judged for wanting to keep my baby. Without saying the words, I was being told it had to be one or the other. What it should have been was a celebration of someone working to become an Olympic athlete and a mother at the same time. To me, that would be an achievement worthy of supporting.”

Jones was sad that she was being criticized “for wanting to have a baby.” But she was determined to fight for her baby’s life: 

“All I ever wanted was to be a mom, and it didn't come easy for me. I also wanted to be an Olympic champion. I truly believed I could be both, and no one was going to tell me otherwise. I was now more determined than ever to be at my very best.”

The Bottom Line:

While Jones is a flawed hero because she writes that she has “respect” for the “right” of women to “make decisions” over their “own bodies,” she is nevertheless still a hero for her baby — and will forever be one.

She chose life for her baby in a difficult situation when making the opposite choice would have helped advance her career. She chose someone else over herself, and that makes her a hero. Following the birth of her child, Jones won the Olympic gold medal in 2014 and world title in 2018. 

Jennifer Jones didn’t just win medals — she showed Canada that motherhood is not a barrier to greatness. She showed that she’s a champion both on the ice and in life.