Jolinda Lynch had an abortion when she was 13 years old. She recalls:
“My mother’s reaction confirmed my fears. What would people think? What about school?… We decided abortion was the answer. And we saw a counselor who assured me I was making a responsible decision; she referred me to Planned Parenthood.
Because I was in the second trimester, I had to go to a clinic out of town. The staff members were very supportive and even made the whole ordeal sound like fun.
“Go into the city, and shop while you are there,” one said.
The abortion took a long time. I still remember the horrid sound of the aspirator as they sucked life from my womb. I screamed the entire time. The doctor yelled at the nurse to give me another shot.
“Do you want to go home pregnant?” He asked me. “Grow up!”…
In the months that followed, I spent all my spare time alone in my room. My mom became concerned and took me back to Planned Parenthood. They counseled me to get a kitten, and then refused to see me after that. I felt so empty and wished I could go back and change things. For years I lived with inner turmoil and hated myself for what I had done…
I still deeply regret the choice I made almost 12 years ago.”
Wendy Williams, Ann Caldwell Empty Arms: More Than 60 Life-Giving Stories of Hope from the Devastation of Abortion (Chattanooga, Tennessee: Living Ink Books, 2005) 149 – 151
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