{"id":315314,"date":"2024-07-10T08:46:53","date_gmt":"2024-07-10T13:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=315314"},"modified":"2024-07-10T09:46:45","modified_gmt":"2024-07-10T14:46:45","slug":"states-pro-life-laws-baby-alive-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/states-pro-life-laws-baby-alive-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Mom says her ‘baby boy is alive today’ because of her state’s pro-life laws"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In an essay for The Federalist<\/a>, Melissa Brooks shared the life-saving effect that pro-life laws had on her life and the life of her son following the Supreme Court decision of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization<\/em>, which overturned Roe v. Wade<\/em> on June 24, 2022. Brooks says she was pressured by her baby’s father to abort their child \u2014 but after several delays and a visit to a pregnancy center where she heard her baby’s heartbeat, she walked out of an abortion facility at 14 weeks pregnant and never looked back.<\/p>\n

Coercion and delays<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brooks wrote that she was living in Kentucky following the Dobbs<\/em> decision and knew that the state only allowed abortion when the life of the mother was at risk (though induced abortion \u2014 intentionally killing a preborn child \u2014 is not medically necessary). Then, in April of 2023, less than a year after Roe<\/em> fell, Brooks learned she was pregnant by her ex-boyfriend, whom she had only dated for a couple of months.<\/p>\n

“After learning I was pregnant, I reached back out to him, and we were both filled with shock and fear,” she wrote. “I already had an 18-year-old son, and the man I was seeing had two children from a previous relationship, and of course, [the ex-boyfriend and I] were no longer together.”<\/p>\n

She noted, “Without hesitation, he said I should have an abortion.”<\/p>\n

Brooks said she considered herself ‘pro-choice’ and had seen friends undergo multiple abortions. The idea of abortion didn’t bother her, but suddenly she<\/em> was the one who would be undergoing the abortion and it would be her<\/em> child being aborted. Her feelings began to change. Despite this, she agreed to undergo an abortion, but would have to travel out of state to do it.<\/p>\n

“The mere thought of it made me sick, and I could never schedule the appointments myself,” she wrote at the Federalist. Ultimately, an abortion appointment was made at a facility in Carbondale, Illinois, which was a four-hour drive away.<\/p>\n

But various events continued to delay the abortion.<\/p>\n

Brooks wrote, “Due to family issues, I had to reschedule my first appointment. Because of various complications and unforeseen bumps, I would soon have to cancel my next two appointments as well. I had great fear and doubt about undergoing the procedure, but I was pressured to continue because I was being told that all the things I wanted for my relationship with my child\u2019s father would come true if I had an abortion.” She added, “I was told we could finally be together, and we could be happy. But he told me we ‘wouldn\u2019t be able to love one another while also loving a child.’ While I had agreed to the abortion, each cancellation came as a silent relief to me.”<\/p>\n

Coerced abortion is unfortunately common<\/a>, with studies showing<\/a> that 64% of post-abortive women say they felt pressured to abort by their partner, their parents, their financial situation, or the false idea<\/a> that mothers can’t pursue higher education or succeed in their chosen career.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Brooks had secretly visited a pregnancy resource center<\/a>, where she heard her baby’s heartbeat and learned she was having a boy. When she finally made it to her scheduled abortion, she was 14 weeks pregnant and was told she would need to take an abortion drug and then have “a procedure to have my son removed from me.” This may have been a D&E dismemberment abortion, which is the most common abortion procedure carried out in the second trimester.<\/p>\n