Coercion Is the Abortion Debate We Aren't Having
Rosalie Markezih was looking forward to becoming a mother. But her story took a devastating turn when her boyfriend obtained abortion pills through the mail and pressured her into taking them, resulting in the loss of her child.
Her story raises a question our country has been reluctant to ask: “What happens when abortion pills violate a woman’s choice, and become an abuser’s weapon?”
Numerous women have been harmed by chemical abortion drugs. In a recent letter, more than a dozen women urged Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to settle the case concerning Rosalie Markezih, Louisiana v. FDA.
At the heart of the case is the FDA’s decision to permanently relax safeguards that once required in-person visits before receiving mifepristone.
Those changes made it possible for abortion drugs to be prescribed through telehealth and shipped through the mail, creating opportunities for gross misuse. Many providers have even begun giving women and men alike drugs without proof of pregnancy.
Those concerns continue to mount. This week, Sen. Josh Hawley referred an abortion-pill distribution network to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation, alleging it facilitated the mailing of abortion drugs in violation of state law.
Whether in cases of alleged illegal distribution or coercion by abusive partners, the common denominator is the same: Abortion pills are being distributed with little transparency and even less accountability.
The abortion pill has been marketed by proponents as a symbol of women’s freedom and autonomy. But what happens when that pill is used to take a woman’s choice away?
The reality is that chemical abortion is increasingly being used as a tool of coercion and abuse rather than a “tool of empowerment.”
If we truly care about women, we must acknowledge the growing evidence that chemical abortion is enabling abusive partners to pressure, deceive, and control women while leaving them to bear the physical and emotional consequences alone.
As president and executive director of Lifeline Children’s Services, I have heard too many stories from pregnancy resource centers that follow the same heartbreaking pattern: A woman discovers she is pregnant, only to face pressure, manipulation, or outright deception to end her pregnancy with abortion pills. In some cases, women are even given the drugs without their knowledge or consent.
These are not isolated incidents, but commonplace reality for far too many women in communities across our country.
These stories are devastating. One woman believed she was experiencing a miscarriage, only to later learn she had unknowingly been given mifepristone.
In another case, a boyfriend arrived carrying abortion pills in a Ziploc bag and demanded that she “take the pills and get it over with.”
Coerced abortion compounds tragedy. It not only ends the life of an unborn child, it victimizes the child’s mother as well. Instead of protecting either life, it leaves one child dead and one mother carrying wounds that often last for years. Rather than empowering women, it enables those who seek to control them.
All accountability goes out the window when abusive or irresponsible men can obtain the drugs themselves and pressure or deceive women into taking them. Instead of confronting responsibility, these men now have another tool to erase the evidence of exploitation.
Rather than calling fathers to responsibility, chemical abortion gives irresponsible men another avenue to avoid it.
Abortion supporters often argue that chemical abortion gives women greater choice and relieves the burdens of an unexpected pregnancy. But when a woman is pressured, deceived, or forced into taking abortion pills, the burden does not disappear; it shifts entirely onto her.
She is left to carry the emotional trauma of coercion, the physical effects of the abortion, and the grief of losing her child, while the abusive man who manipulated or pressured her often escapes any responsibility.
Regardless of where someone stands on abortion, deceiving a woman into ending her pregnancy should be unacceptable. Coercive abortion should outrage everyone, not just those who are pro-life.
Policymakers should strengthen safeguards governing abortion pill distribution, hold those who coerce or deceive women accountable, and invest in resources that offer real support to women facing unexpected pregnancies. Women and their unborn children deserve protection.
A society that is truly committed to protecting women protects both women and their children. It refuses to exploit vulnerable mothers, abandon fathers to irresponsibility, and treat unborn children as disposable.
Real compassion offers protection instead of pressure, support instead of abandonment, and hope instead of violence.
That is the kind of society we should strive to build.
The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.
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