The Silent No More Awareness Campaign just sent out an email saying that CNN is doing a special report on abortion, and they are inviting women to submit their testimonies about their experiences. CNN is accepting testimonies in different types of formats until Friday, February 15, 2013. This is a perfect opportunity for women who have actually experienced an abortion to speak out truthfully and let the world know the impact their abortion(s) has had on them. You may choose to remain anonymous in your testimony and do not have to give your name or location. I feel it is very important for women who regret their abortion and experienced negative results to speak out. Too many lies are promoted today that abortion is no big deal and that it is a simple procedure that women can have without ill effects. If the women who regret and have been hurt by abortion do not speak out, the lies will continue on, and the general public will continue to be deceived.
Here is the testimony I submitted today. I used parts of a previous testimony I had
submitted for the state of Texas.
In 1985, I
was 16 years old and found myself unexpectedly pregnant. I was so afraid
and embarrassed that I did not take a pregnancy test at home—too afraid to buy
one at the store. Instead, I went to a pregnancy clinic with my boyfriend
where they ran a urine test and told me that I was about 6 weeks
pregnant. Prior to going to the clinic, I had made the decision that if
the test was positive I would have to have an abortion. I could not
fathom facing my parents and telling them I was pregnant. I felt terrible
about the decision but was filled with great fear and shame. When we left
the clinic, I immediately went home to schedule an appointment for an abortion
at a different clinic.
Two weeks
later, 8 weeks pregnant, my boyfriend and I arrived at the abortion
appointment. There were so many people waiting for their appointments,
crying or sad all around me. We waited for hours and hours for it to be
my turn. I tried to not think about what I was really about to do. When
it was my turn and I had been prepped, the doctor walked in and asked me if I
was okay. I told him I was scared, very nervous, and didn’t want to feel
anything. So he gave me an injection with some kind of mild sedative and
began the procedure. It was an unpleasant and painful procedure in spite
of the sedative. The pain caused me to
jerk my body and the doctor became upset with me and told me to stop moving. After it was over, the doctor quickly left
and the nurse made me hurry and get to the bathroom to dress even though I
could hardly walk or see straight. In
the bathroom, I couldn’t even stand and kept vomiting. Somehow I managed to get dressed and walk out,
and my boyfriend carried me to the car and took me home.
I wish
the doctor had performed an ultrasound prior to the procedure and shown it to
me. What if he had shown me my baby’s beating heart and its forming body
and explained to me all its intricate development at that stage of
pregnancy? Oh, how I wish that would have been the case! How much I
wish that more had been done to show me and educate me about the reality of the
human life that was growing within me. I believe that seeing my baby on a
monitor, seeing its movement, hearing its heart beat, and seeing its reality
within me could have made a great difference in my decision. I could not
have seen that life and disconnected from the fact it was actually living and
growing within me. It could have given me the courage to say no to the
abortion and yes to telling my parents and facing whatever consequences came
next. Those consequences would have been way better than the immense
regret and loss I face today.
My words
can never fully express, how much I regret my abortion and how much pain it has
brought me over the years. I can’t express enough how much I wish I could
take back that horrific act and give my baby life, instead of death. I
can’t express how much I wish I could travel back in time and change what I
did. At the time, I thought I was doing what was best, but the years since
then have clearly shown me that it was one of the worst things I could have
ever done in my life. I wish abortion had never been an option that I could
pursue. I share my experience with
others with the hope it will help them make a different decision.
My whole
story about my abortion experience, the pain it has brought, and the healing
that has had to take place is shared in more detail at my personal website: http://godsboundlessgrace.com/
To submit your testimony to CNN, go to this link: http://ireport.cnn.com/topics/921603
This previous post also states well how I feel about my abortion experience:
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