Category: Women’s Stories

Mary Kenny, who interviewed many women for her book on abortion, describes one woman’s situation.

“Some reactions may come many years later. A woman who had had one child but aborted a second pregnancy because times were hard and she and her husband were fairly poor, forgot about the abortion for many years. Then her only child died at the age of 17 in a road accident. From the moment he died, she began to regret the second abortion, and started to feel deep remorse. Although not religious she began to feel that the death of her son was a “punishment” for the abortion carried out 15 years previously. She also very much wished that she had had a second child as a consolation. It is pointless to accuse people of not being “rational” in these circumstances, for feelings are not rational.”

Mary Kenny Abortion: The Whole Story (London: Quartet Books, 1986) 32

This story shows that a woman may not regret her abortion after it happens, but come to regret it years later if there is a change in her life circumstances.

A postabortion woman says:

“The abortion itself was nothing and I was all right immediately afterwards. But then, as time went by, resentment began to set in. I quarreled with my mother, argued with my husband – I took my mistake out on the rest of the world. 2 ½ years have passed since, and there is still anger but most of all, every day, grief. I am not maternal, but I know that I should have had that baby. My marriage is now nonexistent, and I feel the years passing me by. It is very unlikely that I will now have a baby to call my own. I am 39 years old. I feel suicidal at times… People envy me because I look young and am not short of possessions but they don’t realize the hurt I feel inside.”

Mary Kenny Abortion: The Whole Story (London: Quartet Books, 1986)  30

Suicidal thoughts after an abortion are sadly very common. Here is more information

From a woman who had an abortion:

“My child would be 17 years old this coming Christmas and I wonder with each passing year whether I was carrying a son or a daughter.”

Mary Kenny Abortion: The Whole Story (London: Quartet Books, 1986) 21

Even 17 years after the fact, this woman wonders whether her baby would’ve been a boy or girl. Even though pro-abortion activists argue that women are empowered by their abortions and encourage each woman to “shout her abortion” this postabortion woman is still dealing with the ramifications of her decision 17 years later.

This is a story told by Heather, from Tennessee. She describes how the abortionist whistled show tunes as he did her abortion:

“I already had two daughters. Neither was planned, and it never, ever occurred to me to terminate those pregnancies. I was brought up with a very religious background. Now I’ve had two abortions…. My husband and I were having financial problems and considering separating. I just had to shut my conscience down. The doctor was grotesque. He whistled show tunes. I could hear the vacuum sucking out the fetus alongside his whistling. When I hear show tunes now, I shudder. Later, he lost his license. A few months ago, I got pregnant again. My in-laws have been helping us out financially, so we have no choice but to involve them in our decisions. They gave us $500 cash to bring to the clinic. I felt very forced. I felt like I was required to have an abortion to provide for my current family. Money help is a manipulation. I’m crazy in love with my daughters – imagine if I did that to them? It’s almost too much to open the door of guilt and shame because it’ll all overcome me. In the waiting room, there was a dead silence that was hard to describe. Everyone was holding in their emotions to a heartbreaking degree.”

Charles C Camosy Beyond the Abortion Wars: A Way Forward for a New Generation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2015) 5

Preborn baby at a little over 10 weeks after conception- within the time frame that most abortions take place

A doctor talks about being in the recovery room after her abortion. This is what many women remember:

“… I remember being in another, larger room, in a row of stretchers with other women. There was a nurse at my bedside who was slapping my face and demanding that I wake up. As soon as I was coherent, I was ushered to another room, where I was given a prescription for antibiotics and a list of precautions, and discharged.”

Marissa Ogle, M.D. Still Healing:(2016) 26

After her abortion, the abortion clinic sent her home to cope with the violation and loss of her child. She later came to regret the abortion deeply.

Read stories from women about their abortions

The grandmother of an aborted baby was quoted saying “We never used the word abortion” when discussing what to do about her daughter’s pregnancy:

“We didn’t talk about, “if not an abortion, what then?” We never used the word “abortion.” We never discussed options. But, again, we seemed to share the same delusion about Sheri’s pregnancy. She was just pregnant. Not once ever did we talk about or even acknowledge that she was having a baby.…

Not once, not ever, did I say to my daughter that we should wait a little while. I didn’t tell her we should think about this a little more. I didn’t say to her that there might be other options. I was so overwhelmed myself that my oldest, most sensible daughter had gotten pregnant. I was in such denial that this could never even happened to Sheri that rational reasoning wasn’t possible.”

Teri Stanton Two Minus One: Our Abortion Story (Meadville, PA: Christian faith Publishing, Inc., 2016)  43 – 44

If you are considering abortion, please don’t rush into the decision. Both Teri and her daughter went on to deeply regret the abortion.

One pro-life author recalls a conversation she had with a woman at a Christian women’s conference::

“I met a mother in the spa dressing room at a Christian women’s conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, who had five daughters. She told the story that as a teenager, she became pregnant and chose to abort her first child. As the years went on and her girls grew up, she chose not to share her abortion experience with any of her daughters. Years later, after her girls had grown, married, and had families of their own, she discovered that each one of them had an abortion. Mother and grandmother was heartbroken as she realized that 12 lives were damaged or destroyed because of her silence.”

Teri Stanton Two Minus One: Our Abortion Story (Meadville, PA: Christian faith Publishing, Inc., 2016) 57 – 58

Read women’s stories of abortion

Leah, 22, who had an abortion, says it was a terrible experience:

“It still was a terrible experience.… The biggest thing was just the horror of it; I’d be so scared [if I had another abortion]… go to that terrible hospital and have those sterile, terrible nurses and doctors looking down on me, just like I was in a production line with all those other women; that would be scary for me to have to go through that again, but I still feel real strong about my life coming first in a sense, and I’m not going to have kids until I’m ready, I’m just not and I feel that I have the right to make that choice… I still put the mother’s rights first, I just do, I just feel like I have to, even though I have little twinges in me that say, “Well, you know, what about the baby, what about the baby?” But, so what about the mother, I just feel like that’s more important.”

Judith G. Smetana Concepts of Self and Morality: Women’s Reasoning about Abortion (New York: Praeger Special Studies, 1982) 106 – 107

Although she focuses mainly on herself, this woman nevertheless feels guilt and wonders about her dead baby.

An abortion is also a terrible experience for the baby.

From a woman whose boyfriend pressured her into an abortion:

“I went ahead and had the abortion and later married the man. Unfortunately, the marriage was not a success, and I felt a deep resentment against him when I was told that I was one of the few who, following an abortion, would never bear a child. This was the main reason for the failure of the relationship.”

Mary Kenny Abortion: The Whole Story (London: Quartet Books, 1986) 42

Some studies show up to 80% of all relationships fail shortly after the woman aborts.