New Report Exposes Forced Abortions, 64 Percent of Women Feel Pressure

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Sep 8, 2009   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

New Report Exposes Forced Abortions, 64 Percent of Women Feel Pressure

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 8
, 2009

Springfield, IL (LifeNews.com) — A new report issued today focuses on the epidemic of forced abortions in the United States. The Elliot Institute, an Illinois-based organization that researches abortion’s impact on women, finds as many as 64 percent of women say they have felt pressure to have an abortion.

That pressure, the group finds, most likely comes from spouse or partner but cal also come from a woman’s parents, friends, or employer.

Elliot Institute director David Reardon, co-authored a Medical Science Monitor study of American and Russian women with the 64 percent figure.

His new report, Forced Abortion in America, documents cases of violence against women who refused to have an abortion.

It also highlights cases like the one in Maine, which saw a couple charged with abducting their pregnant daughter in an attempt to force her to have an abortion, and another in Georgia, where a woman forced her pregnant daughter to drink turpentine to cause an abortion.

Reardon says the cases are just part of an epidemic of coerced and forced abortions in the U.S.

Reardon said that cases of women being pressured, threatened, or subjected to violence if they refuse to abort are not unusual.

He pointed out that studies have shown that homicide is the leading killer of pregnant women in the U.S. and that women in abusive relationships are at risk for increased violence during pregnancy.

"In many of the cases documented for our ‘Forced Abortion in America’ report, police and witnesses reported that acts of violence and murder took place after the woman refused to abort or because the attacker didn’t want the pregnancy," he said in a statement LifeNews.com received.

"Even if a woman isn’t physically threatened, she often faces intense pressure, abandonment, lack of support, or emotional blackmail if she doesn’t abort. While abortion is often described as a ‘choice,’ women who’ve been there tell a very different story," he added.

Reardon said the report underscores the need for legislation requiring abortion businesses and health care providers to screen women for evidence of coercion or pressure to have an abortion before the actual abortion is done. He says they should direct such women to people and resources that can help them instead of following through on the coerced abortion.

"Too often, abortion clinics and others simply assume that if a woman is coming for an abortion, it is her free choice," he said.

"This ‘no questions asked’ policy is especially harmful to those in abusive situations, including young girls who are victims of sexual predators. Women should not be forced into unwanted abortions and subjected to violence or pressure from others," Reardon added.

In the Maine case, Nicholas and Lola Kampf were charged with kidnapping after they allegedly bound and gagged their pregnant 19-year-old daughter and put her in their car with the intent of driving her to New York for an abortion.

Police said Katelyn Kampf managed to escape from her parents in a store parking lot in New Hampshire and called police from a cell phone. Her parents could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

In Georgia, police arrested Rozelletta Blackshire after she allegedly forced her pregnant 16-year-old daughter to drink turpentine in an attempt to abort the pregnancy.

The mother and two of the girl’s cousins were charged with criminal abortion after the teen told a school counselor her mother had forced her to drink turpentine. The teen is three months pregnant and the health effects of the turpentine on her and her unborn child are still unknown.

Related web sites:
Elliot Institute – https://www.afterabortion.info

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