Texas Right to Life recently asked a sampling of Texans of different ages and backgrounds which Pro-Life issues were most important in the upcoming Texas Legislative Session that will begin early next year. Respondents overwhelmingly answered that codifying laws protecting women from forced and coerced abortion is chief among their concerns. And rightly so: currently, no Texas law protects women or minors from the rampant injustice of forced and coerced abortion by punishing perpetrators of such acts.
We know that an overwhelming majority of women who have undergone abortions report that they felt they had no choice for their pregnancy other than abortion. And in many cases, coercion and force are the realities behind this troubling statistic. Exacerbating the problem, abortion proponents, who ironically self-identify as “pro-choice,” do nothing to ensure that women who choose abortion do so freely and without force or coercion.
As Texas Right to Life explained last year, coercion is not only limited to violence, but can also include other scenarios. Consider the following:
An employer threatens to terminate the mother’s job if she continues her pregnancy.
A boyfriend or spouse forcibly brings the mother to an abortion mill or commits violence against her with the intention of harming the child.
A school counselor decides that a minor at her school should have an abortion and sends the girl to an abortion mill that will circumvent parental involvement.
Parents threaten to kick their young daughter with nowhere to go out of the house if she does not undergo an abortion.
These are all examples of abortion coercion, and Texans want this to end. Now. Pitting a pregnant mother against the very person she is entrusted to protect is abortion coercion, and the abortion industry thrives on this imposed tension between mother and child. Texas Right to Life is committed to defending the preborn and women victimized by the abortion industry. That’s why we will continue our fight against forced and coerced abortion once again during the 2017 Legislative Session.