From a woman named Beatrice, who had an abortion in an attempt to save her failing marriage:
“I was married, 38 years old, and my marriage was on the rocks – my husband had affairs… That broke my heart to begin with, then we went away and I fell pregnant. I had an 11-year-old son and I had not fallen pregnant in all those years. I thought it was a miracle and still do. My husband’s reaction was totally different. He made it clear he didn’t want any more children… I was in shock, confused… I don’t use the word “choice” because… when you are cornered there does not seem to be a choice. I look at my husband has been “judge” and myself the “executioner.”
Melinda Tankard Reist Giving Sorrow Words: Women’s Stories of Grief after Abortion (Springfield, IL: Acorn Books, 2007) 26 – 27
Sadly, coerced abortions are very common. In one study, 64% of women who had abortions said that they were having them because their male partner wanted them to. (I.L. Horton and D. Cheng, “Enhanced Surveillance for Pregnancy-Associated Mortality-Maryland, 1993-1998,” 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).)
Abortion is not always about a woman’s “choice.”
Read more about coerced abortion here
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