Georgia case emblematic of coercive abortion practices, pro-lifers say

Jun 13, 2008 / 03:57 am

A pro-life group has cited the recent case of a Georgia woman who pressured her teenage son’s girlfriend to have an abortion as further evidence of the coercion it says is often involved in legal abortions.

A Georgia woman has confessed that she insisted her 16-year-old son’s pregnant girlfriend not give birth. Taking the girl to an abortion clinic, the woman pretended to be the girl’s mother, illegally signed the girl’s parental notification form, and paid for the abortion without the girl’s parents’ knowledge. The girl’s parents were not told about the abortion until after it was performed.

The woman has been sentenced to one year in jail for her deception and coercion.

Janet Morana, co-founder o f the Silent No More Awareness Campaign (SNMAC), said the case was not unusual.

"The claim of the pro-abortion lobby that terminating a child’s life is 'a choice between a woman and her doctor or her God' is empty rhetoric to the countless women I know who were intimidated or threatened by boyfriends, husbands, or relatives," said Morana in a press statement. "This Georgia case shows just how far-reaching the pressure to abort can be."

"Abortion clinics will not voluntarily ask girls or women if they're being coerced into ending their children's lives," added Georgette Forney, another co-founder of SNMAC. "Abortion clinics are in business to make money and the more abortions they perform, the richer everyone involved becomes; everyone, that is, except the woman who’s just had her life shattered and the baby who's just had his life ended."

Dr. Alveda King, a Pastoral Associate of Priests for Life, also addressed the Georgia case.

"Abortion is founded upon, maintained by, and promoted with lies," said Dr. King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "There are so many lies surrounding the case of this young girl, it's hard to know where to begin.  Obviously, there's the falsehood of the boyfriend's mother pretending to be the pregnant girl's mother, the fraud of the boyfriend's mother illegally signing a parental notification form, and the deception of the girl's unknowing parents, who never knew their grandchild existed until it was too late.  Most of all, there's the lie that the child who was killed by abortion was not really a child."