Hello, my name is Jessica.  At 15 years old I became pregnant.  I was so young, I didn't even know I was pregnant until my parents approached me.  After meeting with my boyfriend’s parents, it was decided that an abortion was the only answer. My boyfriend and I asked about a home for pregnant women, or even getting married.  But our parents bought into the lie that abortion was the best solution. On the day of my abortion, no one told me what was going to happen.  I'm not even sure if a doctor did the procedure.  I remember the painful sucking feeling and awful sound of the machine.  Afterwards, I fell into a serious depression - but I never felt I had permission to grieve, after all it was just some tissue.  

Eventually a pattern of promiscuity and drug abuse began.  That first abortion led to two others—when I was 18 and 22.  After my last abortion I remember the recovery room.  Women were either staring or crying quietly.  I looked around, thinking that we were cattle after the slaughter—bloody, with parts of us dying.  This was not the painless experience promised by Planned Parenthood.  Each woman in that room felt the shame of what just happened.  

13 years after that first abortion I was a single mom, and my life was in shambles.  But then I finally surrendered my life to God, and I began healing.  I completed Healing Hearts Abortion recovery and I was amazed to find how many issues in my life were rooted in my abortions.  Through God I have learned to forgive myself, my parents, and all those involved, and I praise God for His grace and forgiveness.  I have been happily married to my best friend for almost 11 years.  I have four amazing children and my life is full. 

There is too little shared about the emotional, physical, and spiritual pain incurred when you have an abortion.  I am so grateful that healing is available, and we must share that there are less destructive options for those facing an unplanned pregnancy. This is why I'll be silent no more.