Special Report: Coercion Inside the Abortion Industry
Wantedness and Coercion. Key Factors in Understanding Women's Mental
Health After Abortion. by Martha Shuping, M.D.
Abuse Can Take the Form of Forced Abortion
by Dr. David Reardon (published in the Canadian Medical Association
Journal)
How Common Is Coerced Abortion?
Coercion can escalate to violence if women
won't abort |
Pregnant women at risk of
abuse, assault or homicide, in America and elsewhere if they resist an
unwanted abortion.
64% of abortions involve coercion in direct or indirect forms, and this
may include threats ranging from blackmail, deception and abuse of
authority to physical abuse or even homicide involving partners—or even
parents—who don’t want the child. Women and girls have been physically
pushed into clinics, restrained or abused when they tried to escape an
unwanted abortion. Women have endured forced miscarriages, which
sometimes result in homicide — the leading killer of pregnant women.
Other girls and women are battered down before abortion and may resort
to abortion because they believe it is the only way to stop the abuse.
Coercion often involves direct or indirect threats, including physical
violence. Women who refuse to abort have been subjected to unthinkable
abuses, from forced injections to stabbings, beatings, bombings,
gunshots, and strangulation.
According to
one study of battered women, the target of battery during their
pregnancies shifted to their pregnant abdomens. Indeed, the leading
cause of death among pregnant women is murder. In many cases, it is
known that these women were killed solely because their killers wanted
to stop them from giving birth to their children.
Headlines from the Forced Abortion in America Report
(Download
full report for for
more examples Link here for
the citations listed below)
Hit Men Hired to Kill Unborn Baby After
Woman Refuses Abortion C25
Man Beats Girlfriend For Refusing to Go into Abortion Clinic
C26
Boyfriend Breaks Into Home, Assaults Girlfriend Who Had Refused Abortion
C27
Man Admits on Tape to Giving Wife Abortion Drug; Tries to Convince Her
She Really Wanted Abortion C28
Pregnant Woman’s Body Found in Car Trunk, Husband Convicted
C81
Woman Killed After Refusing Abortion, Her Body Burned C82
Molester Buys Abortion—Twins Get Seven More Years of Rape C13
Retailer Pays $220,000 for Rejecting Pregnant Applicant C8
Woman Files Pregnancy Discrimination Lawsuit Against Maternity Clothing
Retailer C9
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Coercion can take many forms,
including violence and literal "shotgun abortions." In America, where
abortion is hailed as an issue of "choice," women have been forced at
gunpoint or killed for resisting. In other cases, gunmen have targeted
the baby directly, aiming their gunfire toward the mother's abdomen.
Here are a few headlines and
examples of "The UnChoice" at its most ironic and violent worst. Read
these and others in the Elliot Institute's downloadable
Forced Abortion in America
report.
Mother Charged with Forcing 15-Year-Old at
Gunpoint into Clinic
A Florida woman was sentenced to community
service after she pleaded guilty to forcing her daughter at gunpoint to
go to an abortion clinic. According to a staff member, the mother told
clinic workers that if her daughter did not have an abortion, “I’m going
to blow her brains out.” Clinic workers called police. Police reported
that the mother had told staff to perform the abortion even though her
daughter “may seem a bit teary.”C12
Ohio Man Pulls Gun, Forces Her to Drive to Abortion Clinic
An Ohio man pleaded guilty to attempted murder after he was charged
for attempting to force his pregnant girlfriend to abort their child at
gunpoint. ...[After she] decided not to go through with a scheduled
abortion, he
took
out a .45 caliber handgun and said she had no choice.
read more (off-site)
Oklahoma Woman Shot
and Killed for Refusing Abortion
Lorena Rivera, a 21-year-old receptionist disappeared while on her way
to work in Oklahoma City. Her body was later found buried in a shallow
grave. Rivera, 21 weeks pregnant and the mother of a three-year-old son,
had been shot twice and beaten to death. Rivera’s friends testified at
her killer’s trial that Rivera was delighted to be having a baby. Police
reported that the baby's father murdered Rivera because she refused to
have an abortion and he didn’t want to pay child support. Smith was
convicted and sentenced to life in prison. (The Oklahoman,
6/2/99)
Toledo Woman Shot
After Refusing to Abort
Sonya Hayes of Toledo, Ohio, refused to abort because of her religious
convictions. Her boyfriend, Terrance Davis, 27, allegedly shot her in
the stomach, killing her and her unborn son. Prosecutors have said it
was obvious that the gunman was aiming for the unborn child when he
fired the gun. (Associated Press, 2/8/00)
Read more about
pre-abortion issues such as coercion, exploitation, gendercide and
homicide plus abortion and post-abortion issues in the
Elliot Institute's Special Issue: The Real War on Women.
Forced Abortions Happen Around the World |
Australian Killed Husband After Forced
Abortions
An Australian woman will serve at least 18
months in prison for killing her husband, whom she says raped her and
used threats to force her to have two abortions. Yun Young Ko, a Korean
native, told police she could “hear a baby crying” when she stabbed her
husband, Shin Woong Ha, to death in August 1999. In setting a maximum
sentence of four years in prison, the judge ruled that Ko was
“substantially impaired” by severe depression and that Ha’s brutal
treatment of her had caused her to lose control. (Source: Australian
Associated Press, Dec. 11, 2000)
Sex-Selective Abortion: China's 'Vow' to Crack Down an Empty Promise?
... [American] CNN's Ted Turner injected new energy into this movement
during the 2010 climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico, when he
stated that the whole world should adopt the One Child Policy.
"Make no mistake. China's One Child Policy is enforced through forced
abortion, forced sterilization and infanticide. Women are dragged out of
their homes, strapped to tables, and forced to abort babies they want,
up to the ninth month of pregnancy. Women sometimes die during these
violent procedures. The One Child Policy is China's war on women.
Adopting it world wide would hurl women's rights back to the dark ages."
more (off-site)
Sex-Selection Abortions -- Not Just in China (off-site, Elliot
Institute 1/9/13)
Watch a four-minute video exposing the truth about forced abortion in
China:
www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/?p=219
US Reports on Forced Abortion in China,
North Korea
Human rights advocates and news
organizations report that both China and North Korea have engaged in
coercive population control programs.
One report notes that forced abortions and
infanticide have been carried out in prisons in North Korea, and that
the Chinese government has engaged in “violence against women” through
its family planning program, which includes “imposition of a birth
limitation policy coercive in nature that resulted in instances of
forced abortion and forced sterilization.” The report can be viewed at
www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2002.
China's Forced Abortions Rule Hits Women (6/14/12)
Reports of Forced Abortions in China Fuel Push to End Chinese Law
(7/22/12)
Despite Rhetoric, China Has Not Banned Forced Abortion 9/18/12
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Abuse Can Take the Form of Forced Abortion by Dr. David Reardon
(published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal)
How the Abortion Industry Sells Abortion by Exploiting Normal Feelings
Special Report:
Coercion and the Abortion Industry
Clinic-Bound School buses, Teens Pushed into Secret Abortions, Parents
Kept in the Dark
More articles -- See
Coercion page
top
How to find or
offer help |
Pregnancy help &
resources
Post-abortion help, tips
and resources
Help for those being
coerced or forced into unwanted abortions (off-site link)
Help for parents of
teens or teens being coerced or forced into an unwanted abortion
(off-site)
1. VM Rue et. al. "Induced abortions and traumatic stress: A preliminary
comparison of American and Russian women," Medical Science Monitor
10(10):SR5-16 (2004); see also AbortionRisks.org,
"How Common Are Coerced Abortions?"
2. IL Horton and
D Cheng, "Enchanced Surveillance for Pregnancy-Associated Mortality --
Maryland, 1993-1998," Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)
285(11):1455-1459 (2001); see also J. McFarlane et. al., "Abuse During
Pregnancy and Femicide: Urgent Implications for Women's Health,"
Obstetrics & Gynecology 100:27-36 (2002).
