{"id":126191,"date":"2016-09-20T14:00:12","date_gmt":"2016-09-20T18:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=126191"},"modified":"2017-04-30T21:40:30","modified_gmt":"2017-05-01T01:40:30","slug":"artist-says-abortion-is-about-choice-coercion-victims-know-otherwise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/artist-says-abortion-is-about-choice-coercion-victims-know-otherwise\/","title":{"rendered":"Artist says abortion is about choice; coercion victims know otherwise"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Eighth Amendment to Ireland\u2019s Constitution \u201cacknowledges the right to life of the unborn.\u201d Artist Sam Doyle wants to change that. Last week<\/a>, Doyle decided to spread his message by painting the word \u201cREPEAL\u201d in giant letters.<\/p>\n

Over a suicide hotline.<\/p>\n

The rock face Doyle painted on displayed the number for a suicide prevention group<\/a>, and he was criticized for having \u201cobliterated\u201d it. In fact, replacing an anti-suicide message with a pro-abortion one is sadly fitting: a study published in the British Medical Journal<\/em> found that the suicide rate was higher<\/a> among women who had abortions.\u00a0Doyle was also criticized by pro-lifers when he appeared on a radio talk show. In response, he insisted, \u201cIf people don\u2019t want to have an abortion, they don\u2019t have to.\u201d<\/p>\n

The facts in America show otherwise.<\/p>\n

According to some research, more than half<\/a> of women who abort feel pressured to do so. It can range from personal blackmail<\/a> to financial coercion<\/a>. Threats of violence are also used; they aren\u2019t always idle. Women have been shot<\/a>, stabbed<\/a>, bludgeoned<\/a>, burned<\/a> and smothered<\/a> for refusing to abort, which helps explain why the CDC lists homicide as\u00a0a leading cause<\/a> of death during pregnancy.<\/p>\n

Who inflicts this pressure? Sometimes it\u2019s abusive partners<\/a> hoping to avoid child support. Others are sex predators trying to hide their crimes<\/a>. Human traffickers use it as well<\/a>. In the video below, a trafficking survivor named Nicole describes being forced into two abortions, something she calls \u201cthe hardest.\u201d<\/p>\n