Posted on 01/18/2009 5:04:37 AM PST by history_48
by Gina L. Diorio
What role does a restaurant, a homeless shelter, or a television show play in a woman’s or young girl’s “choice” to have an abortion? A greater one than many realize, and an editorial in today’s Washington Times sheds light on the extremely disturbing epidemic of forced abortions across America while asking the question, “[H]ow much choice do American women really have over their reproductive capacities?”
According to the Times:
For years, the pro-choice movement has circulated horrid tales of back-alley abortions performed before Roe v. Wade legalized abortion on demand in 1973. Yet the opposite phenomenon, which has occurred across the nation, is even more disturbing. In a society in which abortion is legal, many women and teens are pressured to abort their child….
Women are coerced to abort a fetus by either husbands or boyfriends who do not want the additional responsibility or expense of a child; by parents who are ashamed of a teen pregnancy or who seek to conceal incest or rape; or by counselors, pastors and health professionals who insist this is in a woman's best interest even when she doesn't think so.
The editorial is based on research conducted by the Elliot Institute – a non-profit corporation that studies the impact of abortion on men, women, families, and society – and published in a report entitled "Forced Abortion in America." According to the report, “Intense pressure to abort can come from husbands, parents, doctors, partners, counselors, or close friends and family.” And this pressure is often far more than verbal. The report continues: "Women who resist abortion have been beaten, tortured and killed. One husband jumped on his wife’s stomach to force an abortion. A mother forced her daughter at gunpoint to go to the abortion clinic. A woman was forcibly injected by the baby’s father with an abortifacient drug."
Furthermore, coercion comes not just from family members – although they unquestionably can play a major role. For example, the report notes the case of Hunter Tylo, the actress fired from “Melrose Place” days after producers learned she was pregnant. “Her lawsuit alleged that one of the show’s producers remarked, ‘Why doesn’t she just go out and get an abortion? Then she can work.’”
(Former “General Hospital” actress Kari Wuhrer experienced a similar scenario when she was fired after becoming pregnant. According to LifeNews.com, “’The vile underbelly of the Hollywood Machine encourages female actors to be as beautiful and slim as possible,’ the suit [filed by Wuhrer] said. It added that an actress who ‘dares’ to become pregnant has one choice: ‘Terminate her pregnancy or be terminated.’”)
In another case, a homeless shelter refused to house pregnant Shontrese Otrey. The report relates that Otrey “was told that the shelter did not provide services for pregnant homeless women. She stated that a staff member drove her to the bank to withdraw money for the abortion, then took her to the abortion clinic.” Otrey later won a $25,000 settlement from the sheltering organization.
And in Long Island, restaurant employee Jennifer James was told to “consider her options” when she informed a supervisor of her pregnancy. She considered, chose life, and was fired.
These are just a few examples cited in the Elliot Institute’s 22-page report, and they lead the Times to conclude, “There is an ugly – and underreported – underside to the abortion industry: ‘Choice’ is sometimes turned into coercion. The back alleys are gone, but the dangers for both mother and child are ever-present.”
This week, America will mark the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. But while abortion proponents will herald the day with celebrations of “choice,” there exists a dark reality where the line between choice and force disappears, and countless women and unborn babies suffer the devastating consequences.
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Gina L. Diorio is a full-time freelance writer. Please visit her website at www.LibertyWritingSolutions.com.
herod’s crusade is alive and well.
IMHO
The abortion industry make no money unless abortions are performed.
And once “The Beloved” baby-killer arranges for all abortions to be paid for by the taxpayers, women will be under even more pressure to “get rid of it” - after all, “it’s not a human being, it’s an inconvenience”.
Nowadays in Texas, PP should offer women - no matter what their "choice," this information on local resources for women who keep their babies:
http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/wrtk/use-directory.shtm
As well as this Directory that has resources by County:
http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/wrtk/pdf/directoryupdate0606.pdf
Unfortunately, the abortionists misrepresent the information.
Here's one abortionist's web site, with three separate non-functioning links to the Women's Right to Know information:
http://www.gynpages.com/trinity/index.html
Notice how small the print is? And read their description:
The State of Texas has imposed regulations in an attempt to intimidate women and harass abortion providers. However, we must abide by the laws of this state. These rules include 24-hour consent, which means you must receive state mandated information at least 24 hours before your abortion. Most respectable medical experts disagree with the information, but we still have to provide it even though it is not medically accurate. We have always been a licensed abortion facility. This agency sets forth guidelines and policies for quality care and we have always met or exceeded the requirements.
Unfortunately, while there is an email address for all other Health Facility complaints,
hfc.complaints@dshs.state.tx.us
you have to send complaints in writing to
# Mailing address:
Health Facility Compliance Group (MC 1979)
Texas Department of State Health Services
PO Box 149347
Austin, TX 78714-9347
Or you can fax complaints to
# Fax:(512) 834-6653
If you want to see coercion, take a look at this supposed “resource” on “options”:
http://urlwww—pregnancyoptions—info.reachlocal.net/pregnant.htm#12
Abortion is a coercive practice in most parts of the world. In China, India and a lot of other countries the abortion clinic is next door to the ultrasound clinic for convenience. They perform an ultrasound, if the baby is determined to be a little girl the father will usually demand that she be killed. This is what the left supports and regards as “the right to choose”.
There will come a time when all Americans look back on the age of abortion with the same sort of national guilt we reserve for slavery and the treatment of Native Americans. Those who call themselves the left will be the most vocal in their abhorrence.
So glad you didn’t succumb to pressure from the baby’s father or the abortion industrial complex. The AIC are in it for one thing—the money. Women and babies are not their priority and a non-death choice is not tolerated.
May God bless you. (I think He already has.)
I remember once, many years ago, I thought I might be pregnant, and naively went to a PP clinic for a pregnancy. I was taken into an office to speak with a woman, who was already, even without a pregnancy test, pressuring me to abort. When I made it clear that I would not, she muttered something about “You’re probably not pregnant, anyway” and ushered me out (without a test). As it turned out, I wasn’t pregnant. But I wondered what would have happened if I’d mindlessly said that I’d want an abortion right away...
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