It was the only way out

For many supporters of a woman’s right to an abortion, the issue is not “are fetuses sacred” or “do fetuses have a right to life”. Rather, it is about a woman having the right to decide whether or not she wants to continue her pregnancy. Her body, her choice. Bodily autonomy, in other words. The vast majority of stories I’ve read about abortion rights involve attempts by anti-abortion advocates (many of whom are men-though not all) to rob women of their right to make decisions about their bodies (yes, I’m aware they don’t view abortion in this way, but they ought to and this is one of the reasons their position is fucking awful). This is usually accomplished through legislation in the form of onerous and medically unnecessary requirements for abortion providers, fetal personhood laws, mandatory ultrasounds (aka rape by the state), ridiculous 48 or 72 hour waiting periods, parental consent laws, or laws aimed at making late-term abortions illegal. Until recently, I’d never heard of anyone violating the bodily autonomy of a pregnant woman by forcing her to have an abortion. But that’s exactly what one man in Norway recently did:

A man who induced his ex-girlfriend’s miscarriage in her twelfth week of pregnancy by tricking her into taking abortion pills he had slipped into a smoothie, claims his actions were “the only way out”.

Prosecutors are vying for a seven year sentence for the 26-year-old man, who has pleaded guilty to both inflicting serious bodily harm and terminating a pregnancy without the mother’s consent at a court in Trondheim, Norway.

The man told the court that he “had a bad conscience and felt remorse” over his actions but that he believed it was “the only way out”, the Norwegian broadcaster NRK reports.

“The only way out”? That’s B.S.

If this guy didn’t want to be a father, he should not have had unprotected sex. Surely he is aware of the existence of condoms?! Barring the use of a rubber, what about a vasectomy? Some men choose that route so they don’t have to worry about getting their partner pregnant. He had other ways out, but chose not to exercise proper judgment. Instead, he opted to violate his ex-girlfriend’s bodily autonomy by forcing her to have an abortion against her will.

“He had tried several times to convince me to have an abortion but it was not an option for me,” the 20-year-old woman told the court.

Lacing the smoothie with abortion pills was the man’s second attempt to make is ex-girlfriend lose the child, The Local reports.

The man had purchased the pills over the internet and attempted to induce a miscarriage early on in the pregnancy by telling the woman they were painkillers.

When this did not result in a miscarriage, the man purchased a second batch of pills, claiming he was concerned after reading online that an unsuccessful abortion attempt could lead to a child being born with deformities.

After the woman drank the smoothie she experienced severe abdominal pain and later miscarried.

It was discovered by the woman’s doctor that her miscarriage had been induced by a high dose of abortion medicine.

The man told the court he felt “like a total shitbag” when the severity of his actions dawned on him.

Dude, you aren’t “like a total shitbag”. You ARE a shitbag.

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It was the only way out
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