Domestic violence victims are among the least likely to be able to travel out of state or safely self-manage a medication abortion at home, leaving them no choice but to carry a pregnancy to term.
When G. found out she was pregnant for the fourth time, she decided it was time for her to die.
“It was just like a breath of fresh air after being strangled for so long,” she said. “It felt like there was light at the end of the tunnel. There was hope.” For those who have been able to access it, abortion, advocates say, has represented a lifeline — and often the safest option — for many experiencing intimate partner violence.
Pojman argues that abortion perpetuates violence by allowing abusers to cover up evidence of sexual assault and reproductive coercion. When G. met the man who would become her husband, she was undergoing medical treatment related to her childhood sexual abuse, which prevented her from using hormonal birth control. He was still married, but he promised to leave his wife for her, and she believed him.She considered having an abortion, but she says her doctor told her to “think twice,” because her health issues meant that this might be her only chance to have a child.
“Pregnancy disrupts the equilibrium that typically [a victim] has worked so hard to establish to mitigate the anger and violence and abuse,” said Emilee Whitehurst, president and CEO of the Houston Area Women’s Center. Sexual assault is one form of reproductive coercion, an extremely common form of domestic violence where an abuser exerts control over their victim’s reproductive decisions. It can also take the form of acts like poking holes in a condom, lying about contraception or substituting birth control medication.
She quickly got pregnant again; this time she pursued adoption. But her husband found out and said he wouldn’t forfeit his parental rights, so she abandoned that plan. When she gave birth to her second child, she ended up in the hospital for weeks due to complications stemming from a sexually transmitted infection her husband gave her.
Two decades later, shelter capacity and response has improved across Texas, but domestic violence advocates and shelter directors will be the first to admit that supply will never be sufficient to meet the demand for their services. “The state of Texas, as imperfect as our systems are, has a responsibility, as does the entire pro-life movement, to do everything possible to help that woman and her unborn child get out of that abusive situation,” he said.
, Texas has no exception in its abortion statutes for victims of rape and incest, and hasn’t since at least 2005. Eventually, when her husband strangled her once again, she told her son to call the police. By the time they arrived, she had passed out, but it was enough to get a restraining order. The officers who responded convinced her husband to move out of the house.
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