{"id":285463,"date":"2023-02-22T06:39:32","date_gmt":"2023-02-22T12:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=285463"},"modified":"2023-02-21T16:35:50","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T22:35:50","slug":"pressured-abortion-rape-save-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/pressured-abortion-rape-save-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"Pressured into abortion after rape, she now helps to save lives"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When a male friend called Daria Monroe in distress, sobbing uncontrollably, the young college student drove to his apartment to comfort him. She soon discovered his emotional drama was an act, designed to manipulate her so he could get her alone and assault her.<\/p>\n

Monroe told Live Action News, \u201cI was moved by his tears and threw caution to the wind. As a result, I walked into a trap where this man was able to take advantage of me.\u201d\u00a0Monroe grappled with a betrayal by a man she had trusted, and then she found out she was pregnant by him. This, she later learned, had been his intention when he raped her.<\/p>\n

Frightened and desperate, Monroe turned to her fianc\u00e9 for support, but he was unsupportive, informing her that she needed to \u201ctake care of the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe planned to marry, and he was upset that I was pregnant. He made it clear he didn\u2019t want to raise another man\u2019s child,\u201d Monroe said. \u201cApparently, my \u2018friend\u2019 wanted to impregnate me to tear apart my relationship with my fianc\u00e9.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n

It was 1974, one year after Roe v. Wade<\/em>, and the slogan, \u201cmy body, my choice\u201d was everywhere. Monroe had nowhere to turn, and wasn\u2019t aware of any pregnancy support center where she could get care. She did, however, ask friends if they knew about a home for unwed mothers, but nobody was able to help.<\/p>\n

A shopping trip for an abortion<\/h3>\n

Monroe\u2019s fianc\u00e9 was acquainted with an abortionist and contacted him, making all the arrangements for the abortion. As he drove Monroe to the appointment, he promised to take her shopping afterward to purchase a few new dresses as a consolation.<\/p>\n

“He told me to do what I needed to do and we\u2019d go on as if nothing ever happened,” she said. “It made me angry that he acted as if my baby\u2019s life was worth nothing, as if trading my baby\u2019s life for a few dresses was acceptable. But I was afraid of him and felt trapped, like I had no voice, so I just did as he demanded.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she entered the abortion facility, Monroe noticed other young women appearing almost \u201ccomatose,\u201d sitting stiffly with legs crossed, some pumping their upper leg furiously, the only discernible testament to their uneasiness. When her turn came, nobody looked her in the eyes \u2013 not even the abortionist who knew her fianc\u00e9.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember the roar of the suction tube,\u201d Monroe said. \u201cAnd the pain was unbearable. They kept telling me to hold still, hold still. I remember thinking, please God, zap me from here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Afterward, Monroe experienced hemorrhaging for which she was given a pad. The bleeding eventually subsided; but she felt so ill she couldn\u2019t lift her head from the pillow and developed a fever and chills, drifting in and out of consciousness while recovering at her mother\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

Monroe said, \u201cI couldn\u2019t get the horrible experience out of my head. There was no compassion at the clinic. The staff was just stone cold.”<\/p>\n

She was later diagnosed with perforated stomach ulcers and was prescribed sedatives which helped to numb her emotions.\u00a0\u201cI walked around in a constant fog,\u201d Monroe said. \u201cThe pills meant to \u2018cure\u2019 my ulcers kept me from thinking about the loss of my baby.\u201d<\/p>\n