Pregnant Woman Killed Because She Refused to Have Abortion

State | Micaiah Bilger | Aug 19, 2022 | 11:28AM | Hampton, Virginia

A young Virginia woman and her unborn baby are dead after her boyfriend allegedly shot her because she refused to have an abortion.

People Magazine reports Emmanuel Dewayne Coble, 27, of Hampton, Virginia, recently was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Raquiah Paulette King, 20, also of Hampton.

King was three-months pregnant with her unborn baby, and authorities said they plan to file additional charges for the unborn baby’s death.

Coble, a U.S. Navy lieutenant, is accused of killing King in July and then leaving her body in a ditch, according to the report.

The Hanover Sheriff’s Office said King’s remains were discovered July 21 near the intersection of Winns Church and Greenwood roads in Hanover County, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.

King’s family accused Coble of murdering her because she refused to abort their unborn baby.

LifeNews is on TruthSocial. Please follow us here.

On a Go Fund Me page set up to pay for funeral expenses, Gregory King, who identifies himself as the young woman’s father, said King and Coble lived together and recently learned that they were expecting a child.

King said the two began arguing after the boyfriend “changed his mind about having the baby” and tried to force “Raquiah to have an abortion, which she refused.” At one point, he said his daughter gave into the pressure and went to an abortion facility with Coble, but she changed her mind inside.

“They then got into a fight outside in the car on the way home [and] the killer killed her and her unborn baby,” King wrote on the fundraising page.

In a statement, the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office said they were able to quickly identify the suspect in the crime, and a U.S. Navy spokesman said they are cooperating with the investigation.

“I am incredibly proud of the diligence of our investigators and our law enforcement partners which led to the arrest of Emmanuel Coble,” Sheriff Colonel David R. Hines said in a statement. “This arrest is the first step in bringing justice to Raquiah King and her family.”

Virginia law recognizes unborn babies as second victims of violent crimes. Under its 2004 law, “any person who unlawfully, willfully, deliberately, maliciously and with premeditation kills the fetus of another” (with the exception of an abortion) may be imprisoned from 20 years to life; and any person who does so without premeditation may be imprisoned for not less than five nor more than 40 years.

Homicide is one of the leading causes of death among pregnant women, according to a 2021 study in the journal “Obstetrics & Gynecology.” The crime is doubly horrific because it almost always kills a mother and her unborn baby.

Many women face pressure to abort their unborn babies, sometimes from employers and others from partners or parents. Frequently, this coercion is coupled with abuse.

A 2014 study, “Associations Between Intimate Partner Violence and Termination of Pregnancy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” published in the journal “PLOS Medicine,” found that intimate partner violence, including history of rape, sexual assault, contraception sabotage and coerced decision-making, was associated with abortion.

Another study by the Elliot Institute found a high rate of coerced and forced abortions among post-abortive women, as high as 64 percent.

LifeNews has been keeping track of reports of forced and coerced abortions as well as abuse when women refuse to abort their unborn babies.

They include:

Michigan – Detroit Man Accused of Making Threats, Demanding Pregnant Partner Have an Abortion (Click on Detroit News 4)

Illinois – Man Accused of Killing Pregnant Ex-Girlfriend and Her Unborn Baby Faces 2 Murder Charges

England – Woman Faked Being Pregnant, Bought Abortion Pills to Trick Lover’s Pregnant Girlfriend into Aborting Unborn Baby

England – Man Accused of Lacing His Lover’s Drink With Abortion Pill to Kill Their Baby and Hide His Affair

Georgia – When His Girlfriend Told Him It Was Too Late for an Abortion, He Punched Her in the Stomach to Kill Her Baby

Scotland – When She Refused Abortion, Her Boyfriend Threatened to Kill Their Unborn Baby With a Coat Hanger

India – Doctors, Family Members Forced Woman to Have Abortion, Killed Her 5-Month-Old Unborn Baby

Washington, D.C. – Washington D.C. Assistant Police Chief Was Told to Kill Her Baby in an Abortion or be Fired

Kentucky – Man Charged with Murdering His Pregnant Wife and Injuring Her Unborn Baby