What impact has the Silent No More Awareness Campaign – founded in 2002 – had on the abortion culture of the U.S.?
• A regional coordinator in Florida woke up one morning and felt called to go to a nearby abortion business with her sign reading “I Regret My Abortion.” When she arrived, a woman heading in for an abortion stopped her, saying, “You are real. I saw you in a dream last night.” The woman chose life for her baby.
• During the March for Life in 2014, Rachel’s Vineyard co-founder Kevin Burke joined the women and men of Silent No More to read the testimony of a Florida inmate who was healed of his abortion regret through an innovative Rachel’s Vineyard program in prison. Although he could not be there, his powerful story was heard, and since then, more prisons have begun offering healing programs.
• In Allentown, PA., over one Labor Day weekend, a soft-spoken regional coordinator named Maggie Sweet was able to change the minds of four mothers headed for abortions. Two of those moms later were the guests of honor at a baby shower hosted by a group of pro-life women, and Maggie even accompanied one of them as she gave birth to her daughter.
The Silent No More Awareness Campaign was the brainchild of Georgette Forney, President of Anglicans for Life, and Janet Morana, Executive Director of Priests for Life. The women, long involved in pro-life work, realized that the stories of women who had abortions could be very powerful in spreading the truth that abortion is always a terrible choice.
“These women are the voice of experience,” Mrs. Morana said. “Long before #ShoutYourAbortion became a pro-abortion campaign on Twitter, four years before Twitter even existed, women and men who regret their abortion experiences have courageously said so – at public gatherings, in newspapers, on the radio and television and through social media. These women will not be silent ever again.”
In 2004, a Catholic seminarian who had participated in an abortion many years before became the first man to declare his abortion regret as part of the Campaign. Now, Father Stephen Imbarrato is a pastoral associate of Priests for Life and he continues to speak out.
“We want to share the truth and be part of the culture of change, and we are meeting those goals,” said Mrs. Forney, who had an abortion as a teenager. ”We are helping people find healing, and reaching women before they make the irrevocable choice for abortion. And we are making sure the public hears the truth.”
In 15 years, the Silent No More Awareness Campaign has held 1,803 gatherings in 17 countries and all 50 states, with 6,270 women and men sharing their abortion testimonies. Testimonies have also been shared at 136 high schools and universities in the last seven years.
Currently there are 17,611 people, representing 77 countries, registered with the Campaign. Those who are not ready to join are invited to ‘register their regret’. So far, 5,361 women and 625 men have said they regret their abortion or lost fatherhood. Also, 648 women and men have posted memorials to their children.
As they have since the founding of the Campaign, women and men of Silent No More will gather in front of the Supreme Court immediately after the March for Life to share their testimonies. Since 2004, the Campaign also has a presence at the Walk for Life in San Francisco.
The media is invited to record and videotape Silent No More testimonies and to arrange interviews beforehand with the co-founders or any of the regional coordinators. To set up an interview, call Leslie Palma at 347-286-7277 or email her at leslie@silentnomore.com
The Silent No More Awareness Campaign is a joint project of Anglicans for Life and Priests for Life. For more information, please visit our website: www.SilentNoMoreAwareness.org