Results: Mom Sentenced To Prison For Giving Daughter Abortion Pills
Published on 09/08/2014
A Pennsylvania woman has been sentenced to up to 18 months in prison for obtaining so-called abortion pills online and providing them to her teenage daughter to end her pregnancy. Jennifer Ann Whalen, 39, of Washingtonville, a single mother who works as a nursing home aide, pleaded guilty in August to obtaining the miscarriage-inducing pills from an online site in Europe for her daughter, 16, who did not want to have the child. Whalen was sentenced on Friday by Montour County Court of Common Pleas Judge Gary Norton to serve 12 months to 18 months in prison for violating a state law that requires abortions to be performed by physicians. Whalen told authorities there was no local clinic available to perform an abortion and her daughter did not have health insurance to cover a hospital abortion, the Press Enterprise newspaper of Bloomsburg reported.
QUESTIONS
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Comments
1.
1.
Do you agree with the law that says a physician must perform the abortion, even if it is just taking a pill?
Yes
37%
1176 votes
No
31%
968 votes
Undecided
32%
1012 votes
2.
2.
Do you agree with the mother being charged? Yes
30%
955 votes
No
40%
1256 votes
Undecided
30%
945 votes
3.
3.
The closest abortion clinic to Whalen's home is about 74 miles away in Harrisburg. Do you think more abortion clinics should be available? Yes
40%
1269 votes
No
30%
935 votes
Undecided
30%
952 votes
4.
4.
In Pennsylvania, the following restriction on abortion was in effect as of July 1, 2014: Public funding is available for abortion only in cases of life endangerment, rape or incest. Do you think public funding should be available to those who cannot afford an abortion? Yes
39%
1232 votes
No
30%
962 votes
Undecided
30%
962 votes
5.
5.
Furthermore, Health plans that will be offered in the state's health exchange under the Affordable Care Act can only cover abortion in cases when the woman's life is endangered, rape or incest, unless an optional rider is purchased at an additional cost. Do you think all abortions should be covered under health insurance? Yes
34%
1070 votes
No
35%
1097 votes
Undecided
31%
989 votes
COMMENTS