What a Choice....

This story from the internet news service, The Morning Call, Dec. 18, 2009, is an important example of what often constitutes a woman's "choice" in obtaining an abortion.

 "A former Bethlehem man accused of putting a gun in his girlfriend's mouth because she wouldn't get an abortion saw the case against him dropped on Thursday.

Jonathan R. Stock, 28, of Hackettstown, N.J., appeared for his preliminary hearing, but the woman he was accused of attacking didn't. That led to prosecutors withdrawing charges that included aggravated assault.

Authorities say Stock is a member of the Pagans motorcycle gang and District Judge James Narlesky's hearing was held at the county courthouse in Easton for security.

But without the testimony of now-ex-girlfriend Tammy Smith, 31, the prosecution's case couldn't proceed.

''She's concerned for her safety,'' Assistant District Attorney Patricia Mulqueen said of Smith's absence.

Stock still faces separate charges stemming from a police search of the East Boulevard apartment he formerly shared with Smith. He's accused of possessing drug paraphernalia and marijuana, and Mulqueen added Thursday a felony charge of receiving stolen property.

The search was conducted within days of Smith's October report that Stock had choked her, pulled her hair, put a gun in her mouth and threatened to kill her.

She said Stock had wanted her to get an abortion, they argued, and he attacked her, according to court records.

Stock's attorney, Tommaso Lonardo, said his client was innocent of the assault and is innocent in the second case. He said there's no proof that the items police seized were Stock's, since Smith also lived there.

Lonardo said Stock is an honorably discharged Marine who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo and who has worked for a New Jersey trucking company for five years. Lonardo dismissed claims by authorities that Stock is a Pagans member.

'''Prove it,' is what I've been asking them,'' Lonardo said. ''It is only from a girl who refuses to come to court.''

In the second case, a preliminary hearing has yet to be scheduled. Narlesky set bail at $35,000, with $3,500 needed to secure release. The amount was higher than Lonardo requested, but less than Mulqueen sought.

Five family members and Stock's current girlfriend came to the court hearing. As he was led away in handcuffs by a sheriff's deputy, they wept."

  Very often, an immature man, unwilling to financially support the child he fathered, resorts to violence or emotional withdrawal from the woman who loves him enough to have his baby. Whether or not the status of the relationship can be judged morally right or wrong is irrelevant to the point. So often, the woman is coerced to kill the life inside her because she buckles under the pressure of the threats levied against her, which may be emotional or physical. This is more common than most people realize!
  Abortions that are too easy to obtain results in many instances of violence against women. Because the women are embarrassed to talk about this, it is not general knowledge. Pro-abortionists callously look the other way from stories like these because they say they are protecting a woman's choice! So often, all they are protecting is the greater chance that a woman will be physically forced or emotionally blackmailed into taking a life that they want to keep. Some choice......