Man admits to assaulting woman, forcing her to take abortion drugs

A man in Ireland has admitted to assaulting a woman and forcing her to take drugs to cause an abortion of her nine-week-old preborn baby.

Key Takeaways:

• A man in Ireland pleaded guilty to unlawfully ending the life of a preborn baby and assaulting a woman.

• He bought the abortion drugs at a pharmacy in Dublin, locked the young woman in a room, and coerced her to take the pills.

• When he left to buy a pregnancy test, she called police.

• He is due to stand trial in November.

• Cases of forced and coerced abortion have been on the rise due to the increased ease of access to the abortion pill following the allowance of telemedicine abortion.

The Details:

According to RTE, the man appeared in Letterkenny Circuit Court, where he pleaded guilty to unlawfully ending the life of a foetus contrary to section 23.2 of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2019 and to a charge of assaulting the woman and causing her harm contrary to section three of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997. He is in custody and is due to stand trial in November.

He is said to have locked her in a room and forced her to take the pills, which he got from a pharmacy in Dublin, telling her he would "beat that kid out." In a recording of the event on the man's phone (which took police four years to access), he can be heard saying, "I'm showing you what to do... take this... I'm dead serious... I'm forcing you. I don't care, take it. It's either you eat this or I beat that kid out of you tonight. I'm dead serious... I'm forcing you. I don't care. Take it." The woman can be heard crying.

After she had taken the pills, it took 20-30 minutes before cramps began and she felt feverish. She reported being in great pain and while in the bathroom, passed large amounts of blood. When the man left to get a pregnancy test, she took her opportunity to call the police, who were waiting for the man when he returned. He was arrested and she was brought to a hospital where she underwent a D&C abortion to remove the remains of her baby.

According to the Pro-Life Campaign, there has been a rise in coerced abortion in Ireland following the initiation of telemedicine abortion during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The woman read a victim impact statement at the court, saying:

"When he wrongfully imprisoned me and caused the termination of my nine-week pregnancy, he took far more than my freedom. He took my child. He took my sense of safety. He took a future that I had already begun to plan and love. My baby was real to me. I had hopes, dreams, and a bond with the life that was growing inside me, and all of it was violently stolen from me in a moment of cruelty that I will never forget."

She added that after the coerced abortion "for a time, I lost myself. It changed how I saw the world, how I trusted, and how I understood love. But I want the court to know that I did not remain in that darkness. Through healing and faith, I opened my heart again. I found love not only in my amazing husband, who treats with the love, dignity and kindness I always deserved, but in Christ, who carried me when I could not carry myself. My faith gave me strength when I was broken, and it gave me peace when I thought I would never feel whole again.

She also said that because of her faith, she has forgiven the man and refuses to let his actions control her. "I will always grieve my child. I will always remember what was taken from me. Healing does not erase the loss, it only means I learned how to live with it. I am here today to ensure justice is served and to honour my baby, my truth, and the strength it took to survive this."

The Backstory:

The man and woman met on an app and began a relationship in 2019. She became pregnant that same year, and, according to RTE, she underwent an abortion. It is unclear if that abortion was by her choice, but RTE said "they decided to terminate."

She became pregnant again and said she was going to keep the baby. However, he believed she was going to have another abortion, and when he learned she was not, he cancelled his vacation plans to make sure she had the abortion.

After his arrest, he was allegedly non-compliant, refused to admit to his crimes, and said he did not see the woman as his girlfriend.

The Bottom Line:

This is not the only case of a man forcing abortion upon a woman, thanks to the easier and wider access to abortion drugs.

The abortion pill has become so easy to acquire that men are buying it to force upon women, sometimes quietly, and sometimes not. Several men have been charged with assault involving abortion drugs, and that number is likely to grow.

According to Pro-Life Campaign, another man in Ireland was recently sentenced to eight years in prison at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court after he forced an abortion on his former partner, telling her that he would "kick the child out" of her.