STORIES OF COERCION

Speaking to The Sun, Hetty told her story of feeling pressured by medical staff to have an abortion because of anomalies seen on her scan. She says: “They made it feel like [abortion] was the most fair thing to do. It was not a case of, 'She might have something wrong with her, but it could be OK', there was no happiness to it. It was just very much a case of, 'Prepare yourself'. I felt really hurt and disregarded.”

Freyja shared her story with Her Voice. In a particular way, she writes about the influence her mother had over her decision: “My mum was completely against me having the baby. She said we couldn't afford it - we live together in rented accommodation on low-income wages. If I continued the pregnancy, she told me I would have to move out and become a single mother.”

In a YouTube video, Jaya shares how her partner coerced her into having an abortion. She says: “Even though I was in this situation where the father didn’t want to have the child, I wanted to have that child. He was so cold and emotionally manipulative… I remember him saying, ‘I’m coming to the abortion with you’, because I would say, ‘I’ll go on my own’... I remember thinking, ‘you’re not coming for support, you’re coming to make sure I’m doing it.’”

Worcester News reports that a man attacked his pregnant partner because she refused to have an abortion. The victim worte in her personal statement: “I feel scared to go out in case I see him in the area … He made me feel like I was worth nothing.”