WASHINGTON, D.C. - When an actress recently attributed her success to “employing a woman’s right to choose,” her colleagues in Hollywood applauded her courage for speaking publicly about abortion.
But the women and men of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign have been speaking publicly about their abortions since 2003, and they will do so again in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building immediately following the March for Life on Jan. 24. Testimonies will begin at about approximately 2:30 p.m.
They tell a different story than the tale the actress spun. They speak of lives derailed, years lost to addictions and eating disorders, and suicidal despair. For each of them – and for the men who regret their lost fatherhood – employing the right to choose was the wrong decision.
Women and men from all over the country, including dozens who have never testified at the March before, will help conclude the nation’s biggest pro-life event by telling the stories of their abortions, the consequences that followed and the healing that ultimately helped them move forward.
Silent No More was founded by Anglicans for Life President Georgette Forney and Priests for Life Executive Director Janet Morana in 2002 as a way to harness the power of these stories in the hope of reaching women before they have abortions, and to extend a hand to those still suffering the devastating aftermath of abortion.
“It takes courage to stand up in the midst of hundreds of thousands of pro-life people and tell the stories of our abortions,” Mrs. Forney said. “I have been talking about my own abortion experience for decades and while it never gets easier, there is healing to be found in speaking about it out loud. We want other moms and dads who may be suffering in silence to know that forgiveness and redemption are within reach.”
Mrs. Morana added, “Abortion advocates like to say that abortion empowers women, when exactly the opposite is true. The actress who spoke so glowingly of abortion and her ability to choose when and with whom to have her children neglected to mention that her daughter’s father died of an accidental drug overdose when the baby was just two years old. The unexpected happens. We cannot choose everything that happens to us or our loved ones. But choosing life is always the right choice.”
Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life and Pastoral Director for Silent No More, said, “The theme of this year’s March for Life is ‘Life Empowers: Pro-Life is Pro-Woman,’ and that is the simple truth. Women are capable of amazing things, as they prove every single day all over the world. Saying yes to life is just the start.”
The Silent No More testimonies will be live-streamed and can be seen on Priests for Life’s online broadcast channel www.EndAbortion.TV and the various social media and internet video platforms linked from there.
For details of all Priests for Life activities at the March for Life, go to www.PriestsforLife.org/MarchForLife.
Priests for Life (www.EndAbortion.US) is the world’s largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated exclusively to ending abortion. Pro-life efforts are working. The abortion rate in America is the lowest it has been since Roe v. Wade and in recent years states have passed more than 400 laws to protect the unborn. The number of freestanding abortion clinics in the U.S. has dropped from 2179 in 1991 down to 710 today, and President Trump has placed 187 (and counting) pro-life judges on the federal bench.