This is a thread on how the 8th amendment has directly affected my family and why it needs to be repealed. When my mother was 16, she fell pregnant with her first child /1 She was in an abusive relationship, her family had abandoned her and she was left to fend for herself and her baby alone. It was 1995, and having been raised in a strict catholic family she knew the risks of having a baby out of wedlock and especially at such a young age /2