(LifeSiteNews) — A man in Ireland reportedly threatened his pregnant girlfriend he would drag her “by the hair of her head” to the abortion mill, highlighting the problem of coerced abortions.
The 20-something man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been refused bail after a judge found his partner lived in fear for herself and her unborn child, the Irish Independent reported.
His pregnant girlfriend said he smashed a wardrobe and chandeliers, jumped on her car, threw runners (sneakers) around the house, and refused to return her house keys. She said she was “living in fear for me and my kids and my unborn child,” and that he had threatened to drag her “by the hair of her head” to an abortion center.
The man has pleaded not guilty to charges of criminal damage and theft in Tallaght District Court after a reported domestic altercation on Friday, September 12.
State police found a key to the couple’s home in the man’s pocket during a search the day after the incident. He admitted to taking his girlfriend’s key and had not denied threatening her, according to Judge John O’Leary.
However, the accused man, represented by defence solicitor Padraig O’Donovan, said damage to any of her belongings was accidental and offered to pay compensation. “If she wants me to stay away, I’ll stay away 100pc,” he told the judge, adding that he would live with his father if granted bail.
O’Leary said that while the accused man was entitled to the presumption of innocence, he did not have an absolute right to bail. He objected to bail under the O’Callaghan principles, saying gardaí (state police) believe the man is likely to harass his girlfriend and that he may not turn up when due in court.
The judge noted the case involved alleged coercive behavior. Like police, he believed there was a “high likelihood” the accused would “interfere” with his partner, who was in “genuine fear for herself and her unborn child.”
“The matter is so fraught,” he concluded, before remanding the accused man to Cloverhill Prison for DPP directions.
Coerced abortions are common, including in the UK. Research by polling company D-Cyfor revealed that one in seven UK women has been forced to undergo an abortion.
Experts have also called for UK healthcare professionals to be vigilant in screening for coercion after a study suggested that a quarter of U.S. women were subjected to coercion surrounding an abortion decision, with the study deeming coercion to be “common.”
“Most abortions are unwanted, are coerced, and many are forced, sometimes violently,” one study found. “Escalating pressure to abort can come from employers, husbands, parents, doctors, partners, profit-driven abortion businesses, landlords, friends and family, or even trusted financial, personal, school or religious guides, gatekeepers or authorities.”
In addition, astoundingly, homicide and suicide are the leading causes of death for pregnant women in the U.S., research published earlier this year found. Of 20,421 pregnant women who died over an 18-year period, 11 percent (2,293) of those deaths were due to homicide and suicide. Of those deaths, 61 percent (1,407) were the result of homicides and 39 percent (886) were the result of suicide.
