Tag Archives: post-abortion

Abortion Groups Shut Out Many Women’s Abortion Stories

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Yesterday, someone shared a news article with us on our Twitter feed about a group of abortion advocates who are traveling across the U.S. to tell their abortion stories.

SilentNoMoreThe group Exhale wants its MoveOn tour to “change our country’s conversation about abortion” and to “help stop stigma and create a social climate where each person’s unique experience with abortion is honored and free from judgment.”

The problem is that some abortion stories are judged and ignored by these abortion groups. The thousands of stories from women who regret their abortions aren’t welcome, because they don’t fit with abortion advocates’ narrative. These groups are, in essence, silencing some women whose abortion experiences don’t fit with their agenda.

For many years, pro-life advocates have worked to free women to share their abortion stories that don’t fit the abortion agenda. The Silent No More Awareness Campaign welcomes women and men to talk about their experiences in an effort to help make the public aware of the devastation abortion brings, according to the group’s website. Since the organization began in 2002, almost 6,000 people have shared their stories.

Here is just one story from Maggie in Pennsylvania (read her full story here):

When my boyfriend cheated on me almost 30 years ago I thought it would forever remain the darkest day in my life. It didn’t compare to my Abortion that followed for this reason.

After my abortion I was disabled, the secrecy magnified my shame and became toxic to my health and spirit.

My healing came while working at a Gift Shop as a young girl entered the store contemplating having an abortion. Immediately I shared my testimony with her hoping to spare her from a lifetime of pain. She thanked me for my testimony but left undecided. About a year and a half later I heard a knock at the Gift Shop door. I began to shake because there to my surprise she stood in front of me with her beautiful 6 month bouncing baby boy as her words will forever echo in my heart. “I want to introduce my son to the woman who saved his life.”

Renewed, I vowed to do everything within my power to help prevent other women from suffering as I did, as I am “Silent No More.”

Thank you, Maggie! And thank you to all the brave women and men who are going against the grain and sharing their stories of healing after abortion.

The Devastating Effects of a ‘Right’ to an Abortion

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Our organization runs an essay contest every year for students in junior and senior high school. I am always surprised by how profound these students can be.

But last year, there was one essay that really stuck with me. It was written by a middle school girl, who was thinking about women and abortion.SilentNoMore

She wrote: “I believe women are strong. Women are strong to give birth and strong enough to live with rejection. I don’t, however, think women are strong enough to live with the fact that they couldn’t be strong enough to do what their mothers did for them – give the gift of life.”

This young woman saw through the faulty pro-abortion arguments and pointed to a huge flaw: the idea that abortion is a good thing for women, and it should be a woman’s right.

So many women who have exercised their “right” to an abortion now understand the consequences of that “right.” As evidence, just look at the testimonies at the Silent No More Awareness Campaign:

Deborah found out she was pregnant when she was 17 years old. Her boyfriend urged her to have the abortion and she agreed, afraid to tell her parents that she was pregnant.

“I realized that I had done the most awful thing I could ever have done, and it had been done in the most inhumane way. I paid someone to kill my unborn baby. I could see it happening. I could see the doctor doing things inside of me to my baby in order to kill it. After that, I felt that I should suffer, and that it should hurt. I felt cheap and unworthy.”

Maggie prayed for a little girl, but when she became pregnant, she felt daunted by her husband’s and mother-in-law’s abuse. So, she had an abortion. Later, as she began her own healing process, she discovered how her abortion also hurt her other children.

“The consequences of abortion had not only devastated my children’s lives… but soon I discovered how destructive the consequences of abortion also had affected my other sibling’s lives. My brother’s girlfriend aborted their child when they were teens. Today my brother is 44 and childless. I cannot begin to tell you the effects this has had on him every day of his life.”

Women like Maggie and Deborah are not alone. Hundreds of others share their testimonies on Silent No More’s website. Read more testimonies here, and learn more here about post-abortion healing for women and men.

Abortion is a right that never should have been. Hundreds of thousands of women and men are hurting because of it. Some tell their stories, some don’t. And 56 million more will never have the opportunity to share any life story – because our society calls abortion a “right.”

How Can Churches Promote the Sanctity of Life?

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It’s a question that I’ve heard fairly often from pro-lifers.

They are concerned that their church is not doing more to protect life from the moment of conception, and they want to know how to change that.Choose Life!

Some of the best answers that I have heard come from the Rev. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life. He hosted a seminar last summer about how churches in pro-life denominations can be more fruitful.

Let me share with you his three-step advice for churches:

First step – Your denomination may be pro-life, but that doesn’t mean everyone in your congregation is. People tend to have very strong feelings about abortion, and those who think abortion should be legal can be put off by the pro-life message. They may see pro-lifers as extremists who don’t care about women. Our job is to neutralize the hostile opinions by starting friendly conversations about the issue, finding common ground (such as our desire to help women and their families), and helping them to see that there really is some truth to the pro-life argument.

Second step – There may be other people in your church who say that while they would never have an abortion themselves, they don’t believe it’s right to stop someone else from making that decision. Our job is to explain why abortion is wrong not just for us personally but for everyone: because abortion destroys a life.

Third step – The most important step toward protecting the sanctity of life in church is to help stop abortions among believers. Our job is to offer compassion, support, and resources to women facing a crisis pregnancy, as well as to women who have had abortions. From there, we can actively continue to teach about the issue, maybe by doing a Bible study on the topic or examining the denomination’s pro-life statement. We also can encourage prayer for women considering abortion, their babies, the fathers, pregnancy counselors, lawmakers, and ministers.

Finally, the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation has developed some practical suggestions for churches that want to become more actively involved. Click here for the list.

A side note: The protection of every human’s right to life is a compassionate cause that attracts many religious people. However, it is not simply a religious viewpoint. The right to life from the moment of conception is a truth supported by both science and logic. Read more here.