When someone tries to defend being anti-choice because women need to “accept responsibility” for their actions (i.e. having sex), it always confuses me. I even heard a classmate use that as an excuse to be against birth control, also. I have always thought avoiding unwanted pregnancy, and not bringing unwanted children into the world was much more responsible than using babies as some sort of punishment for fertile women and girls.
Please read this article in the Nation about birth control sabotage as part of abuse.
Here is a chilling passage (emphasis mine):
In the largest study of this phenomenon to date, “Pregnancy Coercion, Intimate Partner Violence and Unintended Pregnancy,” published in the January issue of the journal Contraception, lead researcher Elizabeth Miller and others surveyed nearly 1,300 16- to 29-year-old women who’d sought a variety of services at five different Northern California reproductive health clinics. Among those who had experienced intercourse, i.e. who could be at risk of unintended pregnancy, not only did 53 percent of respondents say they’d experienced physical or sexual violence from a partner, but one in five said they had experienced pregnancy coercion; 15 percent said they experienced birth control sabotage, including hiding or flushing birth control pills down the toilet, intentional breaking of condoms and removing contraceptive rings or patches. These figures were consistent from clinic to clinic.
Who do we want taking responsibility for what actions? Who are we blaming for unplanned pregnancy? And, who will suffer if these reproductive clinics (like Planned Parenthood) have their funding stripped?
Sorry about the heavy. I will try to bring back some poop jokes.
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Women are also forced into abortions as abuse. My cousin Sue is one such case. She is now the mom of two beautiful girls, but has had three forced abortions while in previous bad relationships with abusive men.
Absolutely.
It is also a little discussed but huge part of the parental notification issue. According to providers I have talked to, it is much more common for parents to try to force their teens to abort than forbid them from terminating.
Forced abortions are a part of the pregnancy coercion mentioned above. Some abusive partners will sabotage a woman’s birth control, and then force her to abort when she becomes pregnant.
This behavior has nothing to do with the pregnancy or abortion itself, but is all about the abusive partner having control over the other person’s life. That behavior is a removal of responsibility- and definitely not part of the prochoice movement.