Single mom Jennifer Ann Whalen, 39, of Washingtonville, Pennsylvania, faced a tough decision when her 16-year-old daughter came to her with the news that she was pregnant — and didn't want to keep the baby. However, the nearest abortion clinic was 74 miles away, which is apparently too far to drive for this life-changing procedure. So Whalen decided to do her daughter a solid and ordered pills online from Europe to induce an abortion at home. And surprise, surprise — the uninsured teen ended up in the hospital anyway.
Well, it turns out that Pennsylvania has this little law — abortions have to be performed by a physician. And now the mother, who works as a nursing home aide, is headed for the slammer to serve 12 to 18 months in prison, fined $1,000 and has to perform 40 hours of community service after she serves her time.
After hearing the sentence — which by the way I think is a little light — I got curious and looked up the cost of an abortion. According to Planned Parenthood, it costs about $300 to $950 to terminate a pregnancy in the first trimester. Is this mother crazy? When you choose to support your daughter's choice for a teen abortion, now's not the time to get cheap — you find the money. Skip on the manicure. Bring your lunch to work. Look into adoption options. See if the clinic has a payment program. But, for goodness sakes, Dr. Moms, quit feeding your kids pills from abroad as a medical fix.
Now, don't get me wrong — this is not a pro-life vs pro-choice debate. It's about your job as a mother to keep your children safe. You don't feed your daughter tapeworms to help her lose weight for a beauty pageant. You don't give your daughter cancer drugs to get attention. And you don't give your daughter pills from abroad to induce a teen at-home abortion or you're going to prison. And maybe to Hades, too.
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