Abuse, Violence, and Abortion: What can we do?

While abortion advocates spin the tale of “women’s rights” and “reproductive justice,” they have to knowingly ignore the truth to advance their agenda. More often than not, abortion decisions are not made freely or willingly; they are made out of fear and desperation. Despite years of slogans and rallies, legal abortion has not freed women. Abortion has opened the door for the exploitation and abuse of women.

According to a 2004 study by Rue et al., 64% of women who had abortions reported that they had felt pressured or coerced by others. In support of this data, you can find dozens of stories in the document “Forced Abortion in America” that detail how abortion has been used to manipulate and further harm women. For these women, life for their children was never an option. Abortion was even used to mask the abuse and violence. Here are just a few stories of women who have been exploited by legal abortion:

•  In Arizona, a 13-year-old girl was sexually abused by her 23-year-old foster brother. He took her for an abortion, but Planned Parenthood did not report the abuse until he brought her back for a 2nd abortion after abusing her for another 6 months.
• In Baltimore, the father of three teenaged girls repeatedly raped the girls over the course of 9 years and covered up the rapes with at least 10 abortions.
• In Greensboro, Tanika Fox was shot in the head by her boyfriend. He admitted to killing her because she refused to have an abortion and he didn’t want to pay child support.

What can we do?

“Being pro-life” is more than saving the child. It is also about protecting and loving the mother. As activists and educators, we need to be well prepared to handle a variety of situations that we may face on our college campuses.

Unfortunately, safety is often overlooked by college students. We think that we are invincible! However, situations of abuse and harm are all too common. As college pro-life activists, we must be mindful of a variety of resources that can help women. Knowledge of such resources may come in handy for our peers who may be struggling not only with an unexpected pregnancy but also with an abusive relationship. In addition to your pregnancy help resources, your group should consider adding local resources to help women in abusive situations.

Here are two tools that may help a friend get out of an abusive relationship or protect them from harmful situations:

• ASPIRE News: Dr. Phil’s wife released a brilliant new IOS & Android app for people in an abusive relationship. Aspire News looks like a basic news app. However, when you go to the “Help” section of the app, it leads you to domestic violence resources. This app also has a “Go Button” which alerts local authorities and emergency contacts if you’re in a compromising situation. The informational website has an “emergency exit” at the bottom. if you click it or press ESC on your keyboard, it will immediately close the page, but open a blank google tab and the weather channel in another.
• Kitestring: Kitestring is a safecall service that may be helpful if you are going on a trip, out to a club, or to a place where you may not feel entirely comfortable (whether that be due to the setting or the people). This app checks up to make sure that you are safe after your event. If you do not return or respond to the check in, the app will alert your emergency contacts. You can even set up a “duress message” for emergency situations. (This may also be a great tool for parents!)

These two tools and other similar resources could save lives.  Sharing these tools may help a friend in need– or even you– escape a dangerous situation.  Please share these tools with your student group, post them as resources on your group Facebook or website, and advertise them on campus.

 

This post was contributed by Beth O’Malley, Pregnant on Campus Coordinator. If you have questions or concerns, please contact Beth at [email protected].

 

This article refers to the following sources: