Reproductive coercion

Reproductive coercion is when someone tries to control another person's ability to make choices about their own reproductive health or have control over their own body. It includes things like pressuring someone to have sex without protection or forcing someone to have an abortion or to continue a pregnancy.

Let's say you have a toy and you love playing with it. But someone else wants to play with it too, so they try to take it from you or tell you that you can only play with it if you do what they say. That's kind of like what reproductive coercion is. Someone tries to take control of something that should be yours to decide, like whether or not to use protection during sex, or whether or not to have a baby.

It's not okay for someone to try to force you to do something with your body that you don't want to do. Remember, it's your body and your choice! If someone is making you feel pressured about your reproductive health, find an adult or someone you trust to talk to about it.