Thanks to those forced-birth rules the Texas legislature adopted last year, almost all of the clinics providing safe abortions in Texas have closed. That was, of course, the goal. But victories like that come with tragic (and fully intended) consequences.
To their neighbors, Sharon Jones and her daughter Cecila McDonald appeared to have caring instincts toward children.
But when the two learned that Jones’ 14-year-old niece was pregnant in early 2013, the result of a rape by a family member, they and two other relatives “took matters into their own hands” by turning on the girl, Dallas police said Wednesday.
Deputy Chief Gil Garza said the foursome committed a “very tragic and disturbing” attack against the young teen. They are alleged to have beaten her for hours at Jones’ Pleasant Grove home to induce an abortion.
What they did next, I will not say here. You'll have to read the article for that. Here is her story.
The girl told police she became pregnant after Cayald raped her in August 2012, according to an affidavit. She told police she was a virgin before the attack and didn’t tell anyone because she “was embarrassed.”
Police said the girl’s relatives found out between January and March 2013 that she was pregnant. They “became very nervous” and worried Child Protective Services would take their children away, according to the affidavit.
Cayald is a cousin. So rape AND incest.
The day the girl was attacked, Sharon Jones gave her “multiple doses of birth control pills, Plan B [emergency contraception] pills and cinnamon tablets … to abort the baby,” police said.
Cecila McDonald then pinned the girl down while Lonnell McDonald began “repeatedly bouncing up and down” while sitting on the girl’s abdomen, police said.
Cecila McDonald told the girl, “You ain’t about to get my kids taken away from me,” while Lonnell McDonald laughed, according to the affidavit.
Sharon Jones told the girl, who later told officers she was in extreme pain at the time, to “shut up” and cry into a pillow during the six-hour assault, police said.
The girl said the attack didn’t stop until she began to bleed heavily. She said her baby was stillborn about two hours later.
She could have had an abortion if we lived in a civilized society where a girl who is raped by a relative had a safe haven to go and be taken care of. Instead, she was tossed to the same wolves who raped her in the first place.
Thanks for that, Texas. While you're filing charges, perhaps you could file some on yourselves, too.
Also? Scott Walker thinks it's just dandy to ban abortions after 20 weeks even for rape and incest victims. So he's just as bad as the wingnuts in Texas.
