“My pregnancy test was negative, Sydna,” the teenager texted me. “I’m so glad that we talked about how abortion impacts women and I got to hear about your abortion experience. I can’t believe abortion was even something I considered. I have now made a vow of secondary virginity. I will never put myself in that position again.”
Abortion is completely hypothetical until you find yourself in a potential unexpected pregnancy. A pregnancy scare can lead anyone to consider the abortion option. However, when those individuals who considered themselves “pro-life” actually abort, their pain afterwards can be greatly intensified because they knew better.
Recently, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published a text conversation from January 25, 2017 between PA Rep. Tim Murphy and his then girlfriend, Shannon Edwards. While Shannon turned out not to be pregnant, when it was a possibility, Mr. Murphy recommended abortion.
Edward’s point in this published message to her former lover was “… you have zero issue posting your pro-life stance all over the place when you had no issue asking me to abort our unborn child just last week when we thought that was one of the options.”
Obviously, Rep Murphy was considered pro-life until he hit the snag of a pregnancy scare. With this published message, we clearly see that being against abortion made no difference. When a pregnancy scare arrives, anyone can become abortion-vulnerable – even US Congressmen.
When a period is late, abortion is commonly the first thought. After all, abortion is supposedly a safe and legal choice in America, even if you consider it to be murder. Without abortion’s ability to eliminate a “problem” should one be conceived, many would not be having sex outside of marriage at all.
After the pregnancy scare passes, many may later feel guilt for considering abortion, even if they did not choose it. When you stare into the face of a newborn that was conceived unexpectedly – where abortion had been considered but not chosen – regret and guilt often result.
As a Christian, I chose abortion at 19 years of age. In that era, the church was silent on abortion. I never knew of anyone protesting this choice or heard a pastor preach against it. I became sexually active right out of high school. Within a year I’d find myself in an abortion clinic. If I found myself in such a horrible place, anyone can.
My abortion decision was impacted by a total of two previous pregnancy scares. The first occurred after I lost my virginity. Waiting for my period to arrive then was a nightmare. I was starting college in two months. When I proposed abortion, my then boyfriend insisted that we would be “forced” to marry because abortion was “wrong.”
I didn’t know why abortion was wrong but I certainly didn’t want him to feel forced to marry me! He obviously winced as he shared this truth. My heart grew hard towards him then because he offered me no comfort.
I soon vowed to never see him again. If I was pregnant, I determined to lie to him and have an abortion. He’d never discover the truth. Many men have no idea their children were conceived, let alone aborted. When my period arrived on schedule, sweet release flooded my soul.
The second pregnancy scare occurred while I was out of the country on a college trip. My period was ten days late when I returned home. During those agonizing days, I searched for information on abortion. I am confident that I would have aborted then had I been pregnant.
Soon after that second pregnancy scare, I met my aborted baby’s father. He insisted upon a sexual relationship. Since I was no virgin, I agreed. When I got pregnant that summer, abortion was the only option my then boyfriend would support. He outlined that if I didn’t abort, he’d tell everyone it wasn’t his child and leave me. After two pregnancy scares – with abortion being the chosen solution – I agreed to his demands.
He took me to our local Planned Parenthood office for my pregnancy test. It was there that the final decision was made. No other support was offered other than abortion. At 19 years of age, abortion seemed like the only logical choice. I was sadly mistaken. It was the worst thing I have ever done in my life.
Years later – after God did a miraculous work in my heart to help relieve me of the burden of those sins – I could see how my eventual abortion decision took root the night I lost my virginity. Slowly but surely, with God’s help, I began to understand how that first sinful step had led me into an abortion clinic where the tiny human in my womb passed away.
Had I visited a pregnancy center versus Planned Parenthood, I believe my child would be alive today. Pregnancy centers offer complimentary and essential pregnancy services and accurate abortion procedure information. These non-profit centers also provide physical and emotional assistance as well. The ministry services of pregnancy centers are essential for a woman to have a real choice for her pregnancy.
If not pregnant, pregnancy center clients typically rethink their abortion ideology due to their time at the center. A first pregnancy scare can then end any abortion consideration in the future. Armed with abortion information – which is often only provided in pro-life pregnancy centers – women are empowered to make better choices in the future and many will stop having sex outside of marriage!
On the other hand, if women visit Planned Parenthood as I did, basic information about abortion is often ignored. I never knew abortion was surgery or that it could impact me for the rest of my life and become my biggest regret. Abortion can sometimes cause complications later in life when you decide to conceive a baby. A friend of mine who didn’t know this had to go through the peril of finding gestational surrogates, as she desperately wanted a baby and couldn’t conceive on her own.
Rarely is physical and emotional support ever offered at organizations that specifically sell abortions.
The consequences of a true pro-life heart choosing abortion are quite different than making this choice without knowing the details of fetal development. Those that should know better than to even have sex outside of marriage can be even more susceptible to choosing abortion should a pregnancy result.
Those that battle to save tiny humans at a legislative level typically have a different heart than those offering ministry services directly to abortion-vulnerable people in pregnancy centers. Fighting to end abortion politically is very different than helping stop abortion one life at a time in ministry efforts. Pro-life doesn’t mean sin free, after all.
In all pregnancy scares, visit a local pregnancy center first for the best information. The Her Choice to Heal abortion recovery on-line healing website can help you if you’ve made the abortion choice. Pregnancy centers also offer abortion recovery services to those of us struggling after abortion.
Always remember that there is no sin that God cannot forgive and heal! You just may not forgive yourself and need a little help. We are here to help! By praying this verse, God can help begin your restoration – Psalm 139:24 – See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
- #MeToo and Abortion Pain - June 26, 2018
- The Irish Abortion Vote - May 23, 2018
- The Health Benefits of Tears after Abortion - April 27, 2018
