Jessica Echeverry, testifying before the Ohio House Civil Justice Committee on December 3, 2020 about a bill dealing with the disposal of aborted babies:
“At 18 years old, I had an abortion. In order to survive and carry on with my life, I buried it deep down inside, not realizing that there would be a time that I would have to face the reality of that decision.
No matter how deep I buried it, I still struggled. I became depressed, and I attempted suicide twice.
What I did not realize was that the abortion decision I had made, and that I convinced myself I was okay with, had actually become the foundation for all of my unhealthy decisions and relationships afterwards…
I had to face the pain and the truth of my abortion, and allow myself to grieve and process my loss…Allowing myself to grieve the loss of my unborn child opened new levels of healing, and created in me a desire to have had my child properly buried.
It was during this time that I began to ask myself what had happened to my child. Who knows if I would have chosen then a burial or cremation, but I can tell you that it is hauntingly true that part of the abortion experience is the knowledge that there will come a time — no matter how deep you bury it — there will come a time to face it.
And in my healing I realized that there comes a time in the post-abortive healing process where a grieving mother wishes she had been given the option to choose what happens with her baby’s remains.
I wish I was given at least that choice, so that in my painful memories of my abortion I could look back and say [that] even in my pain and ignorance at that time, at least I made the decision to act with dignity…
Do you know what truly separates us from animals? We bury our dead. I respectfully ask you [legislators], as dignified persons, to bury our dead.”
Anne Marie Williams “Post-abortive mother shares a unique perspective on fetal remains law with Ohio lawmakers” Live Action News December 9, 2020
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