Silent No More: Colleen

This is the story of Colleen, who spoke as a member of Silent No More Minnesota at the state capitol in January 2005. Colleen's abortions nearly destroyed her life before she eventually found redemption. Then, when giving birth, Colleen sufferred from medical complications caused from the previous abortions. Naturally, she was not warned about these risks by her abortion provider.

Click to hear Colleen's story

Transcript:

Good afternoon. My name is Colleen [last name redacted]. I'm the Director of Metro Women's Center at Crisis Pregnancy Center here in the Twin Cities area. I've been in that position for fifteen years. But mostly today, I'm here today to speak to you because when I was eighteen years, old I became pregnant and I had an abortion.

I always thought that abortion was wrong, because it took the life of a child. Yet when faced with the reality of a pregnancy myself, I abandoned my position and made arrangements to have an abortion. When I entered the abortion clinic, I was taken to a small room, where I undressed and lay on the exam table. I was very afraid, but I was more afraid of leaving the clinic without having the abortion done. A part of me died that day. It went away through the suction tubing that removed the child from my womb.

After the abortion, drug and alcohol abuse became common for me. In a few months, I was pregnant again. I quickly made an abortion appointment, and this time I did not cry. I tried to think of something to distract me from the pulling and the tugging going on inside my womb. I couldn't wait to get drunk, so I could numb my sense of loss and guilt.

I soon experienced a third pregnancy and another abortion. Like many women, each time I aborted a child, I felt a surge of relief. But I had wrongly assumed that abortion would solve my problems, but things just got worse. My life continued to spiral downward, and I became pregnant again. By this time, I had become suicidal. I searched the Yellow Pages for help, and I finally called a pregnancy help center for assistance. I decided to face this pregnancy, and I soon delivered a beautiful baby, and placed this precious new life into the arms of his adoptive mother.

I was not told that one of the medical risks from abortion was that scar tissue could form inside the womb. Shortly after delivering my son, I hemorrhaged, because by uterus had so much scar tissue inside it due to the abortions. I required a transfusion to stabilize my situation.

For many years after that, I tried to avoid the reality that my abortions had taken the lives of three of my children. There came a time when I could not avoid the truth any longer. I needed to face the deaths of my children. I stopped denying that I had sinned against God, and I realized that my guilt I was experiencing was ruining my life. I found help through a post-abortion ministry, and I began to consider how abortion had devastated my life. Through my healing, I found that God is a god of forgiveness and mercy, and that through my relationship with Him, I have been forgiven and set free of the guilt and the shame of abortion. Once I repented of my abortions and humbled myself before Him, I truly began to heal.

If you have had an abortion, I want you to know that you do not need to remain a victim of your choice. There is hope and healing in the Lord. By acknowledging your personal responsibility for your abortion, healing can begin. By acknowledging the reality that abortion took an innocent life and by asking God for his forgiveness, you can be set free from the bondage of guilt and shame. Through post-abortion ministry, you can find compassion and help to work through abortion’s negative impact on your life.

The most important thing about abortion I think everyone needs to know is that abortion is not an eraser. It may make you un-pregnant, but it makes you the mother of a dead baby. Abortion always affects people emotionally, physically, and spiritually on some level, whether society is willing to acknowledge it or not. Abortion causes a loss, and its consequences simmer beneath the surface of the lives of the abortive people that are here today -- abortive people like you and like me. Abortion negatively affects our peace of mind and our well being. If you are in need of healing from abortion, get help today. You can stop being spiritually and emotionally victimized by your choice. You do not need to remain silent anymore.

Colleen's story is given here with the permission of Silent No More Minnesota. To obtain a copy, please contact SNMM and consider donating to their cause. Their message is powerful and one that more women need to hear before they have an abortion.

Contact info
Website: http://www.silentnomoremn.org/
Phone: 763-536-8800
Email: annmarie@silentnomoremn.org


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Silent No More: Valerie

But what about the women?