This week, a woman revealed that she became pregnant during an affair with Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.), and has alleged that he wanted her to abort her baby. Murphy had consistently voted pro-life during his time in public office. However, it seems that the same may not have held true for his private life. The Family Research Council called Murphy’s behavior “disappointing and disturbing.” He has since chosen not to seek re-election.
Stories like this one, in which a woman is pressured to abort, are in no way rare. Coerced abortions are the dirty little secret of the abortion industry. Abortion advocates frame abortion as an issue of “choice,” but what happens when a woman doesn’t truly have the opportunity to choose? Lip service is paid to the idea of coerced abortion never being okay, but it’s also treated as some kind of rare event that is more of a myth than a reality.
The truth is, women are coerced into abortions — and more often than people might think. Women and girls are threatened with homelessness, or with the end of their relationship, if not with outright violence. Even Alan Guttmacher, former president of Planned Parenthood, admitted that 30 percent of abortions are the result of pressure and coercion.
One woman recently opened up on Twitter about her abortion, which took place after her boyfriend abandoned her and her parents threatened her. And her story is truly heartbreaking.
Long Personal graphic Rant feel free to ignore: My friend and I walk into the clinic. It looks like a regular clinic. 1/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
The lady asks us at the desk what we want. Pregnancy tests, we both say at the same time. 2/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
We both pay our $10, because PP is not cheap. Both of ours are positive. We both knew it. 3/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
I know I’m about 3-4 weeks along. My friend is crying. I’m not. I love the father. 4/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
We’re like Romeo/Juliet. He’s 20 and I’m 16. My parents have kept us apart, now they can’t. 5/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
The nurse asks me first what I plan to do. I puff out my chest and say “I’m keeping it.” Do you have an prenatal care. 6/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
She turns to my friend who’s still crying and says I want an abortion. 7/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
The nurse says to me “there’s nothing else to be done, so you can leave.” My friend allows me to stay 8/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
I sit for an 1 1/2 hours while nurse spends 5 minutes going thru procedure and &rest trying to brainstorm w/my friend how she will $400 9/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
I rush home, I call the “man” who loves me. I say “we’re pregnant.” We can be together. He screams in the phone “Fuck, get rid of it.” 10/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
Your parents already threatened me with statutory rape charges. This is proof. “I don’t want it, and we’re done.” 11/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
I’m stunned, but defiant. This is my baby. I can do this. I’m already in love with it. I’ll find away. 12/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
I know that I need to tell my parents imm to get them on board to support me, so that night I sit them down.My father is oddly quiet. 13/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
My mother is not. “I was pregnant at 15, I can’t have a 16 year old pregnant daughter. God, how could you embarrass me. 14/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
“Mom no, I’m keeping it.” My mother says “you’re an immature slut, you’re not even half as mature as I was as your age.” 15/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
My mom has a way of cutting me down to size, and she’s right. I’m immature. I thought he loved me, 16/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
but I already love the baby growing inside of me. She/He is due June 8th. 17/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
Me: Then I’ll give the baby up for adoption. My liberal dad snorts 18/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
snorts “nobody wants a mixed baby. Your baby will languish in foster care. Is that what you want?” 19/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
My mother screeches “You’re out. You keep the baby, you’re out of this house. In fact, get the fuck out now.” 20/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
I leave the home in the dark and wander the street for hours. How the hell am I going to do this? I have no place to go. 21/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
I’m sitting on a swing in the playground telling myself how stupid I am
I wander into the house around 2:00 a.m 22/— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
My mother is sitting up. “ I guess because you’re back it means you’ll do what I say.” 23/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
. My mother’s demeanor changes. She’s almost giddy. I feel physically ill. 24/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
Oh honey, don’t worry. You won’t have to go to that nasty planned parenthood. We’ll get a doctor to do it at the hospital. 25/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
At about 5 weeks pregnant, I see a doctor. He’s cold. He doesn’t explain the procedure 26/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
other than to say that my parents paid for me to be under twilight. I’ll still be aware, but I won’t care 27/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
The procedure will be simple and quick, he assures me.
They do an ultrasound to date the pregnancy, which is turned away from my face, 28/— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
and schedule my abortion for 3 weeks later. 3 weeks later I am prepped for surgery 29/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
I am brought into a surgical room and given a pill. The pill makes everything hazy and unreal. 30/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
My feet are in the stirrups and my mind is racing over all that’s happen.
Then I hear it. It sounds like an evil vacuum. 30/— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
And I feel the pressure. My mind screams “NO” and then I start to scream “No, No, No, No, No, No” This isn’t right. 31/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
This isn’t right. This vaccuum is killing. Its sucking the life out of me. I’m killing my baby. “No” I’m sobbing 31/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
The doctor tells me to quiet down, it will be over soon. I don’t. I can’t. I’m killing someone. Not anyone, but MINE 32/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
Again, he assures me it will be over soon. Little did I know, the nightmare for me would never be over. 33/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
The vacuum continues. I feel violated, more violated than when I was raped 2 years earlier. 34/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
It’s finally over. They wheel me out to the recovery room. I’m hysterically sobbing “my baby, my baby, my baby” I know I’m loud 35/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
A nurse comes in and get in my face. “shut up, she says; you’re disturbing the other patients. “ 36/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
Apparently I don’t deserve the respect of a patient, and I agree. I’m scum. I’m a murderer. 37/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
They won’t let anybody back there, but my aunt who works at the hospital sneaks back. She sees my state and holds me while I cry. 38/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
To this day, she’s the only liberal family member who is pro-life. I have always wondered if that was the moment for her. 39/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
They let me get dressed, I’m bleeding and cramping and it’s horrible. They give me some meds.I go home and I’m still sobbing 40/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
although hysteria has tempered. I lay down in the bed & let my mother hug me. The women who gave me life, but wouldn’t let me. 41/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
You were just a kid people tell me. I wasn’t though, the moment I became pregnant, I was a mom. 42/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
And mom’s protect their children no matter what. I failed. Every June 8th, I’m reminded. 43/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
I was reminded every time I heard my kids heartbeat, or even their laughter , that one is missing. One is dead 44/
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
Because I was given a “choice.” I love you little one, I alway will. pic.twitter.com/87YLgNSlVF
— A Girl Has No Name (@Mellecon) September 19, 2017
What this woman was forced to go through is tragic and unthinkable. Why did no one, at any point during this process, protect her or listen to her wishes, her choice? And what was the result? Her parents may have legitimately felt that they were doing what was best for their daughter, but all they did was orchestrate the death of her preborn child, and leave her with a lifelong trauma that may never fully heal. What’s even sadder is that this girl is not alone.
Fortunately, there are resources to help women who are being pressured or coerced into abortion. Alliance Defending Freedom, The Thomas More Law Center, and Life Legal Defense Foundation are legal organizations that help women, often at no cost, when they are facing coercion. Organizations like Save the Storks, Stand Up Girl, Option Line, and Pregnancy Line can help put women in touch with trained counselors who can connect them with resources, including prenatal care from doctors who will help take care of both mother and baby. Pregnancy resource centers can also help provide ultrasounds, baby supplies, prenatal vitamins, and emotional support.
It is never acceptable to coerce a woman into an abortion. And the people who call themselves “pro-choice” should be doing more to stop them, instead of pretending they don’t exist.
If you or someone you know is facing a coerced abortion, you have options. Here are resources that can help.
