Abortion activists like to say women should have the “right to choose” abortion and the decision should be between her and her doctor alone.
But too often women say having an abortion was not their decision; they were pressured into it by a partner or parent. And when some women refuse to abort their unborn child, their partners take the violence act into their own hands.
Such appears to be the case with New York woman Mia Jones, 35, whose boyfriend Torey Branch, 34, allegedly beat her so badly that he killed their unborn child in March 2014.
The Daily Mail reports that Branch is on trial this week for abortion, burglary, criminal trespass and other charges, and could face up to 25 years in prison.
Jones testified that Branch pressured her to have an abortion, made her several appointments at an abortion clinic and offered to pay for the abortion. She refused.
Not long before the alleged attack, Branch searched online for ways to kill the unborn baby himself, according to the report. Police said Branch searched for the phrases “Can being hit in the stomach cause a miscarriage?” and “What happens if a pregnant woman gets hit in the stomach?” He also deleted his text messages with Jones a few days before the attack, according to police.
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On March 28, 2014, Jones was going home from a doctor’s appointment when police said Branch and another masked man beat her in the hallway of her apartment building in Brooklyn. Jones was seven months pregnant with her unborn daughter.
According to the New York Daily News, the attackers grabbed Jones from behind and kicked and punched her repeatedly in the face and stomach. The attack led to the death of her unborn daughter, who Jones named Kennedy, the report states.
Jones underwent an emergency C-section to remove her dead unborn daughter. She also had two fractured eyes and needed two blood transfusions and stitches after the attack, according to the report.
“I just wanted to hold her. I wanted her to breathe and wake up. She was lifeless so was so innocent and beautiful. I loved her with all my life,” Jones told the court about her baby girl.
Stories of forced abortions are more common than abortion advocates would like people to think. In November, LifeNews reported the story of another New York man, Josh Woodward, who was convicted of attempted murder after he secretly gave his pregnant girlfriend an abortion drug that caused the death of their 13-week unborn child. Woodward’s girlfriend said she refused to abort their unborn baby, even though he was constantly pressuring her.
As LifeNews previously reported, one study found that as many as 64 percent of post-abortive women say they felt pressure to have an abortion.
Elliot Institute Director David Reardon, who co-authored the Medical Science Monitor study, said, “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.”
“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,” Reardon said.
