I work in healthcare. I’ve spent my adult life caring for vulnerable people. I never imagined I would become one myself.

I also never imagined the man I trusted, who took an oath to “Do No Harm,” would harm my life forever.

At first, my ex-boyfriend seemed normal, calm, and successful. We bonded over our jobs in healthcare. We laughed a lot and built what I believed was a genuine relationship.

But the person I thought I knew didn’t exist.

A few months into our relationship, I found out I was pregnant. The moment I told him, everything changed. His calm demeanor disappeared.

That was when his secrets spilled. He revealed he was still legally married.

Then he commanded I abort our child. He spoke obsessively about appearances, his family, and his future career. He repeatedly pushed for an abortion.

I firmly said, “No.”

“You don’t have to be involved,” I said. I was financially stable and able to raise a child on my own.

Days went by, and then his apology came.

I was shocked; he had completely changed. He was saying he would be the man I needed him to be, and he wouldn’t fight against our baby. He offered acts of kindness. He even started getting me hot chocolates daily. Little did I know that he was slowly poisoning our baby and me with the abortion drugs he’d bought online using his ex-wife’s information.

Tragically, that wasn’t even the worst of it.

After going to bed one night, I woke up around four in the morning feeling like someone was staring. He was awake, hovering over me. Then, in a flash, he pinned me down and forced crushed abortion drugs into my mouth. I knew what he’d done.

As someone in healthcare, I understood how quickly these crushed drugs would absorb through my gums.

I fought him off and ran to call 911. He took my cell and my keys, blocking me from leaving. I rushed to the kitchen, trying to rinse the powder from my mouth. But he continued to restrain me, buying each minute for the drugs to do their intended purpose of killing our kid.

He kept yelling the same things at me: “My father will cut me off. My family will be ashamed. My career will be ruined.”

At no point did he show concern for our child or for me.

When he assumed the drugs had sufficiently aborted our baby, he returned my belongings, and I went straight to the hospital.

After arriving, I began hemorrhaging. Blood was everywhere. The ER staff had to clean me and change the sheets because it was so severe. And the trauma didn’t end there. The medical staff had to support me through the tragedy of miscarrying my child in front of them.

Then the police came. Detectives found crushed drugs and recovered evidence that corroborated my account.

Today, my ex-boyfriend has been charged with this crime and pleaded no contest. He’s lost his medical license but could still avoid prison time altogether. A terrifying fact that haunts me. But this story is much bigger than mine.

What happened to me is a reality that should terrify every American.

I had no idea that these abortion drugs could be obtained online with no oversight, no in-person exam, no safeguards, no follow-ups. Just a man on a computer in the comfort of his home using his ex-wife’s information to order these drugs and have them arrive at his doorstep two days later.

People can argue endlessly about abortion, but no woman should fear being drugged against her will. No woman should wake up to someone forcing abortion drugs down her throat.

What happened to me violated every principle of healthcare.

I’m speaking out for the first time because silence protects people who commit acts like this. And, unfortunately, I’m one of many women harmed by these mail-order drugs.

Look at Rosalie Markezich in Louisiana, who lived a nightmare like mine. Now she’s suing the FDA because her ex-boyfriend ordered the drugs online and pressured her to take them. All because the FDA removed basic safety rules that required in-person visits.

Our leaders need to take women’s safety seriously, not just for me, but for anyone who could end up in this situation. I hope Rosalie’s lawsuit will be resolved to restore important safeguards so abusers can’t get abortion drugs in the mail. No one should suffer. If the drugs are powerful enough to end human life and cause massive hemorrhaging, then they shouldn’t be treated casually.

My ex-boyfriend made a choice. He chose deception over honesty, force over consent. And to violate two human beings, me and my baby.

No woman should endure this. And no society that values women’s safety should look away.

***

Jona Affholder lives in Ohio and is an abortion drug poisoning survivor.

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My Ex Bought Abortion Drugs Online, Poisoned Me, And Aborted Our Baby. Now I’m Speaking Out