Despite what the media thinks, forced abortions do happen

Even when a woman does not want to have an abortion, some determined pro-abortion individuals make sure the destruction of life, and of choice, happen.

The Irish Times recently used scare quotes around the words ‘forced into abortion’ in the title of an article about a woman who may be deported from Ireland back to her African country. The woman reportedly married a “violent and abusive” Irish man who insisted that she have an abortion after she became pregnant. The article notes:

… [T]he man was particularly abusive after the woman became pregnant. He put extreme pressure on her to terminate the pregnancy.

“He had arranged everything from the flight ticket to the clinic procedure because I wanted to keep my baby and had categorically refused to have an abortion,” the woman said in a sworn statement.

She told the court that her having the abortion was something she found difficult to talk about and that she was deeply ashamed of.

The article also notes that the woman’s “mental health suffered” after the abortion, and her “marriage was dissolved.” Unfortunately, this woman’s story is not so unusual when it comes to forced abortions.

A guest contributor shared her story with Live Action News about her boyfriend forcing her to abort their daughter. Another woman wrote to the Guardian about her daughter’s boyfriend pressuring her daughter into an abortion. Countless more stories are referenced in this 26-page report from the Elliot Institute’s Abortion is the Unchoice. As the report mentions, 64 percent of women reported feeling pressured to abort. The following statistics were taken from the report:

• 79% weren’t told of available resources

• Suicide rate 6 times higher after abortion

• Most felt rushed or uncertain, yet 67% weren’t counseled

• 84% weren’t sufficiently informed before abortion

• Homicide is the leading killer of pregnant women

• Women are nearly 4 times more likely to die after abortion

• 65% of women suffer trauma symptoms after abortion

Even the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute wrote about “[m]ale reproductive control of women who have experienced intimate partner violence in the United States.” In referencing the study, the Daily Beast discusses how coerced abortions are “more common than you’d think.”

It’s not merely partners who are complicit in pressuring women into coerced and forced abortions. These stories mention parents as well, and even abortion facility employees. Live Action News’ guest contributor also shared:

On the day of the abortion, the nurse knew my situation, but offered no help except for abortion. I cried, so helpless and alone, knowing my poor baby girl was about to be killed. The nurse just told me that they would give me a sedative before the abortion began. Still, I cried through the abortion.

Planned Parenthood employees are among those guilty of coercing women into abortion. Some of these young women were minors, including a 17-year-old. Planned Parenthood has also been documented looking the other way while abusers bring in their victims for abortions.

Forced abortions aren’t just an unfortunate reality in the United States. China’s One-Child (now Two-Child) Policy is brutally enforced and often involves forced abortions, including even late-term abortions. Even the United Kingdom has run into its own problems with forced abortions. Live Action News recently wrote of the abuses at Marie Stopes International, which commits abortions in the UK and in Northern Ireland. The Elliot Institute also reported on these coerced abortions and safety violations in February.

The woman in Ireland saw her marriage end following her abortion, and unfortunately, this is common. In her research, Emily Milling found that of 400 couples dealing with an abortion, 70 percent of relationships failed. According to Priscilla K. Coleman, “Post abortion partner communication problems have been identified, and an increased risk for separation or divorce following an abortion has been reported.”

Theresa Burke and David Reardon used several anecdotal examples in writing about “Abortion and Ruined Relationships.” Of these relationships, they wrote:

Research shows that abortion is much more likely to damage a couple’s relationship than to enhance it.2 It may also inhibit women’s ability to maintain lasting relationships in the future. Evidence of this is seen in studies which show that women with a history of abortion tend to have shorter subsequent relationships with men compared to similar women without a history of abortion.3 Women with a history of abortion are also significantly more likely to go through subsequent divorces.4

Burke also wrote for the Elliot Institute, mentioning:

Unfortunately, all the evidence shows that abortion to “save a relationship” almost never works. Many relationships between couples come apart shortly after an abortion. Others survive only because the partners are still bound together by grief. These relationships often turn into prolonged, mutually destructive mourning rituals.(1) Even married couples are often driven apart by an abortion unless they can find a way to complete the grieving process together.

These writings discuss the negative psychological effects an abortion can have on relationships — not just on the couple who conceived the aborted child, but for future relationships. Both women and men are documented as experiencing negative psychological effects from their abortions, just like the woman in Ireland.

Coerced and forced abortions are a reality, and this negates the idea of abortion as always being “pro-choice.” But there is help. As Kristi Burton Brown has written for Live Action News here and here, there are resources for women, including legal assistance, hotlines and support. Even at the abortion facility, a woman cannot legally be forced or coerced into an abortion she does not want. The facility risks legal trouble if they commit the abortion against her will.

Starting with education, we can help vulnerable women and put an end to forced abortions.

Editor’s Note: Click here if you have questions about pregnancy or abortion, or if you are being forced into having an abortion.