Twice in her life, Patti Smith was convinced abortion would be a quick fix to her unexpected pregnancies.
Both times, she was wrong.
Mrs. Smith, the Silent No More Awareness Campaign Regional Coordinator for Northern Florida, will talk about her abortions and the impact they had on her life during the Emerald Coast Coalition for Life’s Walk for Life in Pensacola on Saturday, Jan. 15.
“I struggled emotionally and spiritually for decades,” said the recent transplant to Defuniak Springs. “My life spiraled downward into one of alcohol abuse and promiscuity and two failed marriages. Was I empowered? No. To be empowered a woman needs to be comfortable in her own skin, confident and at peace. After my abortions, empowerment slipped away, leaving nothing but a gaping wound in my soul, back-filled with pain, self-hatred, guilt, shame, and remorse, so much so that at the age of 30 I convinced a doctor to give me a tubal ligation because I didn’t deserve to be a mother.”
Suicidal and drowning in alcohol, she ended up committed to a psychiatric hospital.
“The psychiatrist asked me why I wanted to die, and I told him, I was already dead inside, I just wanted to finish the job.”
Able to get sober in 1997, Mrs. Smith later sought healing for her abortion. She became involved in Silent No More to increase public awareness of the after-effects of abortion; to provide information to women and men seeking healing; to invite men and women who have been healed to consider sharing their testimony publicly, and to hold gatherings in northern Florida.
“If the Walk for Life saves just one precious baby, and prevents one woman from experiencing the devastation of abortion” she said, “the event will be a success.”
The Emerald Coast Walk for Life will begin at 11 a.m. CT with an address by Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America at Seville Square, 311 E. Government St. in Pensacola. The walk through downtown Pensacola will follow.
To interview Mrs. Smith, please contact Leslie Palma at leslie@priestsforlife.org or call 917-697-7039.
For more information on the Walk for Life, click here.
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The Campaign began November 11, 2002. As of December 2021, the Silent No More Awareness Campaign had held 2,252 gatherings in 17 countries & all 50 states with 6,821 women and men sharing their abortion testimonies. Testimonies have also been shared at 174 high schools and universities in the last 11 years.
There are 3,012 testimonies posted on the Campaign website with 621 that are shared via video. Currently there are 20,276 people, representing 77 countries, registered with the Campaign.
People who are not ready to join the Campaign are invited to ‘register their regret.’ So far, 6,684 women and 710 men have said they regret their abortion or lost fatherhood, and 604 women and men have posted memorials to their children.
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