A 16-year-old girl was able to escape a coerced abortion at Planned Parenthood — yet the abortion chain deemed their inability to commit the abortion “unfortunate.”
Operation Rescue obtained 911 records after police cars were spotted at Planned Parenthood Chapel Hill last month, though no ambulance was present. Through the 911 call, it’s made clear that the 16-year-old girl was being coerced into an abortion against her will.
“We’re in clinic today, and we have a minor who did, um, disclose to us that, um, she’s being forced to have her procedure today,” the staffer began. “Unfortunately, my provider will not do the procedure if she’s being forced, but the patient did say she is with her family, who did threaten that if she doesn’t [have the abortion] she’ll be sent to her grandmother, who, um, she does state is very abusive, and when she was there before, she was suicidal.”
The staffer continued by saying there were four family members with the 16-year-old girl at the facility, including her mother, her boyfriend, and her boyfriend’s mother.
“Mom’s a little antsy, she’s wanting to know what’s going on, because she’s been in the back,” the staffer said. “So you know, the biggest concern is once we let them know that we’re not doing the procedure today, like, what’s gonna happen with her, right? We’re worried that something’s gonna happen.”
Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, reacted with disbelief to the call. “Unfortunately?” he said. “Unfortunate for whom? For the terrified child being intimidated into choosing death for her own child, or unfortunate for Planned Parenthood’s bottom line after losing the blood money her coercers would have paid to destroy two lives that day?”
READ: Kansas lawmakers approve bill to make coerced abortion a felony
Witnesses on the scene said that no one was arrested, and the girl was not seen being taken away from the group attempting to coerce her into an abortion. It is not known what happened to her.
Coerced or forced abortions are sadly all too common, as one recent study found. According to the study, 43% of women interviewed said they had an abortion that was inconsistent with their values and preferences, and 24% said it was unwanted or coerced. Coercion can take many different forms; according to the Justice Foundation, different forms of coercion include statements like, “If you have this baby, I am kicking you out of my house,” “You are my child and you will do what I say,” and “You won’t get a penny of child support out of me.”
Other data has likewise found that abortion coercion happens frequently. One study found 64% of women said they were coerced into their abortions; coercion can also come from employers — as pregnant police officers, athletes, and celebrities have reported — all of whom were threatened with the loss of their careers if they continued their pregnancies.
“Forced abortion is illegal in all fifty states,” Newman continued. “We have no way of knowing what happened to this little girl – whether she was protected from threatening family members or given the options for shelter and assistance the law dictates. What we do know is when a Planned Parenthood staffer found herself facing a teenager being coerced into abortion, she described the inability to do that abortion because of coercion as ‘unfortunate.’… We hope and pray that this young girl has found her way to a pregnancy center or group of people who will provide the support she needs. She has already shown what a wonderful mom she is by courageously choosing life and speaking up for her child in the face of intimidation and cruelty from her own family.”
