{"id":243281,"date":"2021-04-17T09:39:56","date_gmt":"2021-04-17T14:39:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=243281"},"modified":"2021-04-15T00:10:55","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T05:10:55","slug":"get-out-abortion-women-stories-pressured","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/get-out-abortion-women-stories-pressured\/","title":{"rendered":"‘You either get out or get an abortion’: Women pressured into abortions tell their stories"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

The documentary “Life After Abortion<\/a>,” directed by Brian Barkley, featured the testimonies of post-abortive women who regretted their abortions. One common theme in the testimonies was that many of the women were pressured into having abortions.<\/p>\n

Ava, who became pregnant at 14, described what her father said to her when he found out about her pregnancy:<\/p>\n

When [my father] walked in he called me to the living room and said, “Ava, you’re pregnant. I would whip you right now but if I did, I’d probably kill you.” He said, “You have two choices. You either get out, or you get an abortion.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Faced with the prospect of being homeless and alone, Ava agreed to have an abortion.<\/p>\n

A woman named Lisa originally wanted her baby, but had a conversation with her boyfriend:<\/p>\n

My boyfriend said, “You’re not having it, are you?” And I remember that sinking feeling inside, wishing that he had said something else.<\/em><\/p>\n

But the words that came from me were, “Well of course not.”<\/em><\/p>\n

All my friends told me I needed to have an abortion. Here I am, a single parent of one child. How was I going to feed another one?<\/em><\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Teen coerced by mother into abortion: \u2018She threatened to kick me out of the house\u2019<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Jocelyn was also pressured into an abortion:<\/p>\n

At 19 I had a boyfriend, and I found myself pregnant. I wanted to have the baby, but my boyfriend didn’t want me to. And he spoke to his mother, and she didn’t want me to have the baby either\u2026 I felt so pressured, I decided to have an abortion.<\/em><\/p>\n

A woman named Kelly said that \u201cAbortion was not something that I wanted to do. It wasn’t even something brought up until I was pressured into it by my boyfriend and those around me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another woman said she was pressured to abort by her doctor:<\/p>\n

I had been taking an experimental drug for a tumor on my bladder and during the time of those injections of the experimental drug, I became pregnant. And I can remember the doctor saying, “Millie, you need to have a D&C quickly before the baby’s heart starts beating.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Actually, a preborn baby\u2019s heart starts beating at latest by\u00a022 days<\/a> after conception. There is some evidence the heart could start beating even\u00a0as early as 16 days<\/a>. \u00a0So, most likely, Millie\u2019s baby already<\/em> had a heartbeat when the doctor made his statement.<\/p>\n