A New Jersey woman who was coerced into an unwanted abortion by her boyfriend has lost her legal battle to hold him responsible.
The woman in this case, (who was not identified by name) said that she had originally wanted to keep her baby, but her boyfriend at the time pressured her. According to the version presented in court documents, he promised her that he would stay in a relationship with her if she aborted. He also promised that he would take her on vacation. The woman gave in to pressure and had an abortion in February of 2011. She later came to regret the abortion.
After the abortion, the boyfriend left her. She sued him for emotional distress. The judge in question characterized the case as an issue of promises broken. Since there was no written contract, he contended that there was no violation. A judge called the man’s promises unenforceable because they were not put in writing and were made without legal counsel.
It is interesting to note that the woman in question argued that her case had been misrepresented. She claims that she did not abort due to fearing losing a vacation and a relationship, as the judge characterized the situation. Instead, she claimed that her boyfriend had “intentionally interfered and compromised her reproductive rights” due to the pressure he put her under to abort.
According to the ruling, which was reinforced on appeal, “Under the law and public policy, there is no cause of action for terminating one’s pregnancy and then regretting the decision due to subsequent events… In other words, plaintiff’s claim is….a wrong for which there is no remedy.”
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The plaintiff’s story is all too common. According to one study, 64% of abortions are coerced, often by the woman’s partner. (1) Another study found that 81% of women “feel victimized by the abortion process.” (2)
All too frequently, these women have no legal recourse.
- VM Rue et. al., “Induced abortion and traumatic stress: A preliminary comparison of American and Russian women, Medical Science Monitor 10(10): SR5-16 (2004).
- Dorinda C Bordlee, ESQ “Abortion Alternative Legislation and the Law of the Gift” in Erika Bachiochi. The Cost of “Choice”: Women Evaluate the Impact of Abortion (San Francisco, CA: Encounter Books, 2004) page 136
LifeNews.com Note: Sarah Terzo is a pro-life liberal who runs ClinicQuotes.com, a web site devoted to exposing the abortion industry.
