One of the reasons I am completely thankful for the overturning of Roe v Wade is that in many states abortion will be heavily regulated or abolished.

It will be harder for husbands, boyfriends, one night stands and other male progenitors to coerce or force their partners into abortion.

It happens much more often than many people realize. It happened to me and I was (at the time) married to my son’s father. I was 21 and had married a man who proved to be an unwise choice. To make matters worse, to put it succinctly, contraception failed. I didn’t plan on having a child at 22, but he was dead set determined he didn’t want a child ever. So determined that he and of all people his mother offered me $1000 to abort my son.

I refused. Thankfully I was in a place where my parents (both conservative, Christian and pro-life) were nearby and supportive of my determination to let my son live. I thank God for being able to give him the gift of life.

I was able to choose my son’s life over the will of a manipulative partner (I divorced my son’s biological father not long after, and he relinquished his parental rights,) but not every woman is in a place to do so. Some are at the mercy of abusive partners – and some girls are even at the mercy of parents who hang “you will have an abortion or you lose your housing, support, etc ” over their own daughters’ heads.

Some women don’t have the emotional strength or the physical security to stand up to a husband, boyfriend or even in some instances, their parents. More restrictions and prohibitions on abortion make it easier for women in bad home situations to choose life, to not be coerced into killing their children so easily.

Along with the prohibitions should be protections. Most states have assistance available for women in crisis pregnancies. There are organizations who reach out to women and find them and their babies safe housing and support.

I pray that no other woman has to choose between food, a safe place to live and the life of her unborn child.