I had the beginnings of a religious awakening in my college years but within a left wing, social justice framework. I was not pro-life, and I had very little religious formation.
Around this time an extended family member approached me about her unplanned pregnancy. She knew I had just entered a counseling program and asked for my advice. I told her I would support her whatever she decided. If she was open to parenting or adoption, I could connect her to help.
I was afraid to do what was needed–to encourage her to maintain the pregnancy. I failed to tell her that she would be a great mother, that she already was a mother. I could have accompanied her on an appointment with a pregnancy counselor and supported her decision to give life.
But I had absorbed the left-wing religious perspective and the objectivity of the counseling profession, which reinforced the diabolical propaganda of “reproductive choice.” Abortion was a personal decision, and I must allow her to make her own choice. I also did not want her to resent me later if she felt burdened with a child.
She had the abortion, and I was an accomplice in the child’s death. Years later, when I learned about how abortion hurts women and men, I came to understand and see how that procedure impacted her life. It breaks my heart. I have shared with her my apologies and information on Rachel’s Vineyard.
I have decided to be silent no more about my role as accomplice in an abortion. I hope that others will reflect on their own roles in the abortion decisions of friends and relatives. I pray they will come to a place of understanding and consider attending an abortion recovery program to grieve those lost children.
Grace comes from facing the truth, and it leads us to commit more deeply to advocating for the lives of the unborn and reaching out to those who have been hurt by abortion. That is why I will be silent no more.