Without abortion, advocates worry that abuse victims will be trapped
When Katherine found out that she was pregnant, the man who was allegedly abusing her — micromanaging her relationships, snooping through her phone and physically barring her from leaving his apartment during a visit — was by her side.
He celebrated. She burst into tears.
Katherine, 29, didn’t see how she could have a baby while earning $12 an hour and living at her childhood home, and she couldn’t imagine being forever tied to a man who she feared could hurt their child. She decided immediately to have an abortion.
“I felt like I had no control over the situation and this monumental thing had happened to me,” said Katherine, who lives in Indiana and wished to be identified only by her first name. “I was not prepared for it, and I did not want any of these things with him.”
In Republican-led states that ban abortion, anti-domestic violence groups say they expect more abused women to carry pregnancies to term — possessing little recourse if they’re coerced into pregnancy and keeping them tethered to dangerous partners. Already burdened by an increase in need during the pandemic, those advocates are preparing to respond with limited resources and navigate a patchwork of laws that call into question whether they can help people end their pregnancies.
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