Abortion Connected To Domestic Violence
On January 1, 2014, the media in Pennsylvania reported a domestic violence assault on a pregnant woman in Franklin, Pennsylvania. Twenty-three-year-old Kelton McClarrin was arrested for aggravated assault on an unborn child, terrorist threats, and other crimes. According to police reports, McClarrin punched the pregnant woman in the stomach and threatened to give her a “home abortion.” After backhanding the four-and-a-half months pregnant woman he dragged her out of bed by the ankle and punched her in the stomach. McClarrin was held in jail on a $50,000 bond. The condition of the mother and child was unknown.
On January 7, 2014, a report was published in the Public Library of Science newsletter identifying a connection between domestic violence and abortion. The research identified 74 studies that provided the information for the study and ultimate conclusions.
The World Health Organization defines intimate partner (domestic) violence as any act of physical, psychological, or sexual aggression or any controlling behavior perpetrated by the woman’s current or past intimate partner. The research indicated that worldwide the domestic violence rate among women undergoing abortions ranged from 2.5% to 30% in the preceding year and from 14% to 40% over their lifetime.
The PLoS study was led by Susan Bewley of Kings College in London. The study was initiated because domestic violence may begin or increase during pregnancy, and some countries routinely question possible domestic violence during prenatal care. However, women seeking abortions are not asked about possible domestic violence. According to Bewley, it was important to know whether domestic violence and abortion are connected in order to develop methods to deal with these health issues.
The conclusions reached by this study recommended that healthcare professionals should consider the possibility that women seeking abortions may be experiencing domestic violence from their partners. The study further recommends that “given the clear association between intimate partner violence and termination of pregnancy,” abortion clinics and other facilities doing abortions are appropriate places to test interventions to reduce and prevent domestic violence of pregnant women.
This study could not be more timely, as TeenBreaks.com has reported many cases of domestic violence and abortion. For example:
Helen Dean’s boyfriend attempted to buy an abortion pill to secretly cause
her abortion.
John Jones is serving ten years for stabbing his girlfriend in the stomach to
cause an abortion.
Ka’loni Flynn was murdered by her boyfriend for refusing to have an
abortion.
Irene Santos was tied up and held captive by her boyfriend while he inserted
Misoprostol into her womb, causing her to abort her 19-week unborn child.
Tanner Hopkins attempted to shoot his girlfriend when she was stopped at
an intersection because she refused to abort their child.
Alfredo Vargas attempted to poison his girlfriend because she wouldn’t have
an abortion.
There are many more similar stories; but unfortunately, until now, no one has made this important connection and recommended action to address it.
Meanwhile, TeenBreaks.com receives hundreds of stories from girls who have been pushed into abortions by their boyfriends. The psychological pressure they receive to have an abortion they don’t want definitely qualifies as a form of domestic violence according to the World Health definition.
Since it is unlikely that abortion clinics will willingly add domestic violence counseling to their pre-abortion discussions, perhaps it is time for legislation to be initiated to require such counseling in order to save these women from the worst form of domestic violence.