I can’t stop thinking about the young girls who are being forced to endure unthinkable trauma. Across the United States, survivors of rape and incest are being denied access to abortion, leaving them to carry pregnancies that are the result of violence. It’s heartbreaking and infuriating. Instead of receiving care and support, they are being abandoned by the very systems meant to protect them. In my book Tortured Justice Alabama, I tell the heartbreaking story of Carla, a 12-year-old girl who is raped by her cousin and becomes pregnant. Her mother, desperate to protect her, takes her to Indiana to obtain an abortion, where the procedure is still legal. But their nightmare doesn’t end there—Alabama authorities come after them, determined to punish those who helped her. While Carla is a fictional character, her story is very real for many young girls today.
The Harsh Reality for Survivors
Cases like Carla’s are happening in real life. In 2022, a 10-year-old girl in Ohio, pregnant as a result of rape, was forced to travel to Indiana for an abortion because her home state had banned the procedure (NBC News, 2022). Her case sparked national outrage, yet lawmakers in many states continue to uphold and expand abortion bans without exceptions for rape and incest survivors.
Young survivors of sexual violence already face severe emotional and psychological trauma. Forcing them to carry a pregnancy to term adds another layer of suffering. According to the American Psychological Association, forcing a child or teenager to give birth increases the risk of severe mental health consequences, including depression, PTSD, and suicidal thoughts (APA, 2022). These are not hypothetical risks; they are real, documented consequences of laws that prioritize ideology over human suffering.
State Laws That Ignore Victims
Several states, including Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas, have enacted near-total abortion bans that offer no exceptions for survivors of rape or incest. Even in cases where a victim is a minor, the law treats them the same as anyone else seeking an abortion. The result? Survivors are forced to travel long distances, seek unsafe alternatives, or endure a pregnancy they never consented to.
Many of these survivors are children—some as young as 10, 11, or 12 years old. The physical toll of pregnancy on a child’s body is dangerous, yet lawmakers who champion these bans ignore the medical reality. According to the World Health Organization, adolescent pregnancies carry a much higher risk of complications, including life-threatening conditions like preeclampsia and obstructed labor (WHO, 2023).
How We Fight Back!
The battle over abortion bans is about more than politics—it is about protecting the most vulnerable among us. Survivors of rape and incest deserve compassion, not punishment. Doctors should not fear imprisonment for providing care, and mothers like Carla’s should not have to break the law to help their children.
I wrote Tortured Justice Alabama to shine a light on these injustices, to show the devastating impact of abortion restrictions on real people. If Carla’s story horrified you, if you believe that no survivor should be forced to endure what she did, then now is the time to act. Read Tortured Justice Alabama and join the fight for reproductive rights. Let’s ensure that no survivor is ever forced into this nightmare again.