A student in the US has sparked an international debate after asking pro-life campaigners to pay her $1million to stop her having an abortion.
Alongside the essay posted online, called “How much would you pay for an abortion?” the woman, who has stayed anonymous, has set up a donations page.
In the article, she hits out at current abortion laws before asking the campaigners to give her money – which she claims she will put in a trust fund for her unborn child.
She wrote: “I am a twenty-six-year-old female and I am currently 7 weeks pregnant. I have every intention of having an abortion, but I'm giving you a chance to stop it.”
The student chose to run the campaign for 72 hours, in reference to the laws on abortion that have recently been passed in the united states. These laws force women seeking a termination to have a face to face first appointment before they have to return to the clinic three days later.
She explained: “I'm enrolled in a graduate program in a state that very recently passed extremely restrictive abortion laws that impose unnecessary waiting time to get an abortion and attempt to enforce rules that bypass the doctor/patient privacy privilege.
“I now feel more comfortable traveling to my home state to get an abortion than I do trying to get one here.”
Her decision has split opinion – some commentators have called her a “psyco” and claimed she is holding her baby to ransom, while others have supported her campaign and have said she’s shining a light on the repressive new law.
The girl ended her essay by pointing out that the if every one of the 157 million American citizens that support the pro-life cause would donate – it would cost them each less than one cent.
She added: “I hope to give the American public a concrete example that the conservative right in America doesn't actually care about the life of a child, they care about controlling the lives and choices of women.
“We have to acknowledge this and we have to stop it.”
What do you make of her campaign?