A 13-year-old who couldn't get an abortion is now starting 7th grade as a mom, report says

March 2024 ยท 3 minute read

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A 13-year-old from Clarksdale, Mississippi will start seventh grade as a new mom after being sexually assaulted and unable to get access to an abortion, Time reported.

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The girl, referred to by the pseudonym Ashley in the report to protect her privacy, was raped in autumn of 2022 and told no one for weeks, her mother Regina (also a pseudonym) told Time.

Regina had noticed something was wrong when Ashley lost interest in her usual hobbies, like TikTok dances, and had symptoms such as nausea. Regina said she hadn't even talked to her daughter about how babies are made because she felt Ashley was too young to understand, according to Time.

Despite severe trauma that left Ashley almost unable to speak, Regina later learned that Ashley had been assaulted by an unknown man while she had been outside their house.

Ashley was already 10 weeks pregnant by the time her pregnancy was discovered

Regina told Time that she brought Ashley to the emergency room on January 11, 2023 because she couldn't stop vomiting. While they were there, bloodwork showed that Ashley was 10 or 11 weeks pregnant. 

"She just had no clue," Dr. Erica Balthrop, a provider at the Clarksdale Woman's Clinic and the OB-GYN on call, told Time.

Regina was told that the closest abortion provider was a nine-hour drive away in Chicago. But the family couldn't afford the cost of gas, food, or lodging along with the procedure itself and time off work to complete the journey. 

Instead, the family did their best to disguise the fact that Ashley was pregnant with oversized clothes until it was too obvious to hide. Then they removed her from school, saying she needed surgery for an ulcer, Time reported. 

Ashley completed sixth grade on her laptop, and gave birth to her son, nicknamed Peanut, on a Saturday when she was 39 weeks pregnant. Her mother told Time that she's working to get Ashley permission to start seventh grade from home, too.

Strict abortion laws disproportionately affect high-risk mothers, experts say

Mississippi's abortion laws are some of the most restrictive in the nation. On paper, they allow exceptions in the case of rape or if the mother's life is at risk, but the process for obtaining exemptions isn't clear, Time reported. 

Mississippi also has high rates of poverty and maternal mortality. Black women in Mississippi are four times as likely to die from pregnancy-related complications as white women, according to state Department of Health data. And pregnancy-related health complications are on the rise as a result of stricter bans on abortion, the Washington Post reported.

There are also few providers available in regions of the country where states have banned abortion, including Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Alabama, following the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022. 

Meanwhile, stricter laws are leading to significantly more births. But most people don't even realize they're pregnant until week seven, which is already too late to get an abortion in a dozen states. 

If you are a survivor of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline (1-800-656-4673) or visit its website to receive confidential support.

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Watch: Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade: What does it mean for every US state?

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