Got into a discussion over at this blog and since I dug up these many posts citing examples of forced abortion, I thought it worth summarizing in one place here and placing a heading and link on the sidebars of both blogs.
I'm so tired of the old canard being tossed at us that there are no women forced into having an abortion. I know several personally and have met or read the stories of many more.
Plain and simple truth: many women are forced or coerced into having abortions. There are many innocent victims forced by parents, grandparents, boyfriends, husbands, friends, and/or pressured by bosses, friends, coworkers and/or other family, to have abortions.
Here are more than 20 instances of forced abortions on women and young girls (or attempts), including commentary on 4 other lists/sources of research on forced abortions:
"Man Charged With Attempted Murder for Slipping Abortion Drug to Girlfriend to Cause Miscarriages", Friday, November 30, 2007
Coerced or Forced abortions in America- statistics, citations to published studies, research books and news reports
Force Abortions FactSheet (PDF file)
Florida teen says mom forced her into abortion clinic, August 2, 2000
"Guangxi Officials Carry Out Mass Forced Abortions"
41 year old rapist is caught forcing underage teen victim into abortion clinic...by sidewalk counselors with photos of his license plate, not by the clinic workers who were obligated by law to call the police.
September 2006: Parents kidnap--at gunpoint--19 y.o. daughter across state lines to force her abortion, in Maine
May 2005: "Ma Weihua, a woman facing the death penalty on drugs charges, was reportedly forced to undergo an abortion in police custody in February, apparently so that she could be put to death 'legally' as Chinese law prevents the execution of pregnant women."
The above Amnesty International link gives another forced abortion story naming the woman and states that they found that in the period of January through December 2004, "forced abortions and sterilizations...continued to be reported as a result of the enforcement of the family planning policy..." in China.
April 24, 2005: "Sharon Osbourne Told To Have Abortion By Mother"
Feb. 5, 2005: Girl forced by her grandmother.
Spring 2003: 13-year-old being forced by mother.
Boyfriend forces woman to return a second time and have the abortion.
"Man Convicted in Forced Abortion Attempt." A man forced two misopristol pills (part of the typical two-drug-cocktail-over-many-days that is the RU-486 abortion "pill") into his girlfriend's vagina after she refused to have an abortion. As a result, she had what they referred to in the press as a "miscarriage." She wouldn't have miscarried if he didn't force those pills into her.
1979 through 2001: Coerced abortions in the Church of Scientology.
May 2004: U.S. Supreme Court Dockets Forced Abortion Case.
Same case as directly above, Jan. 2004: "Eleventh Circuit Court rules that an expectant mother can be aborted by force if the abortionist argues that it is necessary to 'protect the health of the mother.'"
Donna Santa Marie, sixteen years old, forced to abort her child by her parents. Father punched her in the stomach when she refused at first.
2000: "Pregnant garment workers on Saipan forced to have abortions to keep their jobs
1999: Women trafficked from Mexico into Florida in 1999, forced into prostitution and some forced to have abortions.
1990 through 2005: North Korea Engages in Forced Abortions, Infanticides
1992: Arlin della Cruz, forced by escorts into Harrisburg, Pennsylvania abortion clinic when she was trying to talk to the prolife sidewalk counselors there. She committed suicide soon after, leaving a note that she “wanted to be with her baby.”
"Abuse Often Takes the Form of Forced Abortions", Canadian Medical Association Journal letter printed, by Dr. David Reardon:
"Thirty to 60 percent of American women having abortions describe pressure from others as a key reason for having an abortion. Many report that they submit to unwanted abortions only because of abuse."
Many links to Unwanted Abortions, a list of many stories of forced or coerced or deceitful abortions:
1) Abortion Whether You Want it or Not
2) The Many Faces of Coercion
3) Coerced Abortions Highlight How Abortion Hurts Women
4) Forced Abortion Stories
Covers forced abortions in Tibet, China, Taiwan, East Turkistan, and of course, the United States. UN and UNFPA-supporters, beware.
