Butterfly Cauldron
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Remind me again how parental notification is a good thing?
This must be the month for attempted forced abortions. Yet another girl, this one a 16-year-old rape victim, has family that attempts to force her to abort. But this time, it's nasty. They made the girl drink turpentine!
COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) — Police have arrested three women who are accused of forcing a pregnant 16-year-old to drink turpentine in an attempt to cause an abortion.
The girl’s mother, Rozelletta B. Blackshire, 44, was charged with criminal abortion and first-degree cruelty to children, Columbus Police Sgt. Debra Bohannon said. The teen’s cousins, Shonda Y. Blackshire, 26, and Monica M. Johnson, 28, of Eufaula, Ala., also were arrested Friday and charged with criminal abortion.
Investigators have not determined whether the turpentine has had any toxic effects on the teen, who is three months pregnant, or her unborn child.
“There’s no medical evidence that would support you could induce an abortion by giving her turpentine,” Bohannon said. “Still, it’s not made to ingest. It’s not good to ingest.”
Bohannon said the girl’s mother and cousins twice forced her to drink turpentine between Sept. 12 and Sept. 20.
The women might have wanted the teen to have an abortion because her pregnancy could have exacerbated an unrelated health problem, Bohannon said. The girl is in protective custody, she said.
Police were notified after the girl told her school counselor that her mother made her drink turpentine. Bohannon said her sex crimes unit was given the case because they already were investigating a sexual assault case involving the pregnant teen. Investigators believe the girl conceived during that assault.
If convicted in the criminal abortion case, the women could face up to 10 years in prison.
Where do I start? First, clearly this woman did not want to have an abortion. If she had, clearly her family would have supported her decision. So, she wanted to have this baby. A baby that seems to have been conceived as the result of rape. Okay, if a woman wants to bring to term a baby conceived in rape, she's way stronger than me and needs to be supported, not further tramatized.
Second, the girl has some sort of health condition. I can understand that upsetting her family. But again, it's her choice. She gets to decide if she wants to risk her life to give birth, not her mother, not her cousins, no one else.
And for gods sake - turpentine?? Where the hell did they get the idea that would make her lose the baby? Or were they hoping to do so much damage to her body she'd have no other choice? These people are fucked up. And who knows, maybe they've seriously hurt this woman. Maybe she's going to have lifelong damage from what they did to her. If they're so worried that carrying a baby may endanger her health, what did they think drinking a poisonous substance was going to do? They could have killed her.
COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) — Police have arrested three women who are accused of forcing a pregnant 16-year-old to drink turpentine in an attempt to cause an abortion.
The girl’s mother, Rozelletta B. Blackshire, 44, was charged with criminal abortion and first-degree cruelty to children, Columbus Police Sgt. Debra Bohannon said. The teen’s cousins, Shonda Y. Blackshire, 26, and Monica M. Johnson, 28, of Eufaula, Ala., also were arrested Friday and charged with criminal abortion.
Investigators have not determined whether the turpentine has had any toxic effects on the teen, who is three months pregnant, or her unborn child.
“There’s no medical evidence that would support you could induce an abortion by giving her turpentine,” Bohannon said. “Still, it’s not made to ingest. It’s not good to ingest.”
Bohannon said the girl’s mother and cousins twice forced her to drink turpentine between Sept. 12 and Sept. 20.
The women might have wanted the teen to have an abortion because her pregnancy could have exacerbated an unrelated health problem, Bohannon said. The girl is in protective custody, she said.
Police were notified after the girl told her school counselor that her mother made her drink turpentine. Bohannon said her sex crimes unit was given the case because they already were investigating a sexual assault case involving the pregnant teen. Investigators believe the girl conceived during that assault.
If convicted in the criminal abortion case, the women could face up to 10 years in prison.
Where do I start? First, clearly this woman did not want to have an abortion. If she had, clearly her family would have supported her decision. So, she wanted to have this baby. A baby that seems to have been conceived as the result of rape. Okay, if a woman wants to bring to term a baby conceived in rape, she's way stronger than me and needs to be supported, not further tramatized.
Second, the girl has some sort of health condition. I can understand that upsetting her family. But again, it's her choice. She gets to decide if she wants to risk her life to give birth, not her mother, not her cousins, no one else.
And for gods sake - turpentine?? Where the hell did they get the idea that would make her lose the baby? Or were they hoping to do so much damage to her body she'd have no other choice? These people are fucked up. And who knows, maybe they've seriously hurt this woman. Maybe she's going to have lifelong damage from what they did to her. If they're so worried that carrying a baby may endanger her health, what did they think drinking a poisonous substance was going to do? They could have killed her.
Labels: abortion, stupid parents
3 Comments:
I fear they think the baby's "in her stomach."
Meanwhile, there was an 11-year-old rape victim whose parents apparently decided not to abort. When a news agency reported that the rapist escaped from prison, they published her name and the fact that she was pregnant by him.
I don't get people. That's why I'm a hermit.
Oh, dear gods. Why would they do something like that to that poor child??
I got the story secondhand, and haven't tried to research it. When I think of it, I just can't get my mind through it. I picture her going to give birth and I just don't see why they thought it was a good idea. I think I assumed they were Catholic.
My mom once said she would allow us to abort if we were raped, and my dad said no. But I can imagine my mom presenting it as my choice and then, consciously or not, manipulating me into carrying to term. She could say if I aborted, I might not be able to have kids later. She used to say infertility was caused by multiple abortions/sex partners and possibly birth control. This feels extreme to me, like maybe I've overthough it or it's not good for me to speculate. Yet, in a way that's both comforting and scary, it's genuine. And I think that speculating and having it ring true gives me some sort of handle on it/her, even though I can never know.
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