A Live Action article tells the story of Paula Veit Fetter, who was forced into an abortion she didn’t want. She became pregnant at 16, and her father demanded she abort. He drove her to an abortion clinic.
She was examined by the doctor and told him that she didn’t want an abortion. But instead of finding a way to help her, he told her that because she was 16, abortion was her only choice. Paula didn’t give up, reaching out the social worker at the clinic, telling her about the abuse and that she was afraid to go home. She revealed her bruises, but the social worker left the room to speak to Paula’s father. When she returned to the room, Paula’s father was with her. The social worker told Paula that her father promised not to hurt her again. She told her to go home with him and she would find help for Paula. That help never came.
From the moment Paula got back into the car with her father he began beating her. The beatings went on for 2 days. She says:
At home, he dragged me upstairs by my hair, threw me against a wall and said if I didn’t get an abortion, he would give me one himself, then hit me in the stomach. He started choking me and I felt myself passing out. At that point, my mother, who had just been watching while all this happened, told him he had to stop choking me or I would die, He stopped choking me but continue to hit and kick me.
The Live Action article goes on to say:
A few days later, while her father was working, Paula asked her boyfriend to take her to the agency who was supposed to help her. She told them what was happening and showed them her bruises. They advised her to abort and told her there were no resources to help her. Paula refused to abort her baby and was sent to a group home. Once there she was sent to a local doctor who also dismissed her desire to have her baby and told her to terminate. Terrified that her father would find her and kill her, and let down by every other adult she turned to, Paula only had her boyfriend for support. But then she lost him too. She says:
My boyfriend and I continued to see each other during this time and still talked of marriage. After I had been in the group home about three months, my boyfriend and a friend of his stole a car and were arrested. My case worker contacted me and told me my boyfriend told his lawyer he did not want to get married. I was hopeless at that point, and that night I took all my morning sickness pills in an effort to kill myself. This was not a cry for help, it was a real attempt-I thought the pills would kill me and I did not expect to wake up. I threw up all night and survived the attempt. The next day I called my case worker and told her I was ready to have an abortion, I didn’t feel like I had any other options.”
Nancy Flanders “HEARTBREAKING MUST READ STORY: “I DIDN’T WANT AN ABORTION” live action news May 28, 2014
Of course, this tragic story is about more than just abortion. It is about child abuse and a child welfare system that horribly failed this young woman. But it just shows the lack of support that many young people face when they become pregnant, even when they want to have their babies. This tragic story shows how desperate the circumstances of an aborting women can be. I can’t help but wish that she gone to a crisis pregnancy center, which would’ve worked with her, encouraged her, advocated for her, and persisted in getting help. Too often, these young women have no one to advocate for them. Tragic stories like this are all too common, and they shouldn’t happen in our country.
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“She was examined by the doctor and told him that she didn’t want an abortion. But instead of finding a way to help her, he told her that because she was 16, abortion was her only choice. ”
It is amazing how illogical this is. There is no such thing as “the only choice” because a choice would require two or more options to select from. Aside from that, it is a terribly tragic story. This shows multiple problems in our society that all need to change.