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Leslie
Virginia,
United States
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Hi everyone, I’m Leslie Blackwell, Regional Coordinator from Richmond, VA…and I LOVE being Silent No More! You know WHY I love being SILENT NO MORE? Because the TRUTH HAS SET ME FREE! Glory Be to God!
Keeping the dark secret of my two abortions SILENT for over 30 years nearly destroyed me!
But today, I stand before you as a SIGN of HOPE because I’ve been forgiven and healed through God’s AMAZING GRACE!
I made a tragic mistake when I chose to abort my first baby in 1980, a few months before graduating from college, BECAUSE I was selfish and scared. You see, I had just landed my dream job as a TV Talk Show Host and was afraid the job would evaporate if they found out.
I don’t remember much from that day other than my roommate driving me to the clinic. The nurse and doctor’s faces are still a blur. I stayed in bed for a few days crying and bleeding, feeling hollowed out, dulling the pain with drugs and booze.
I started the TV show, graduated from college…and within a year and a half, I found myself pregnant again. I didn’t want to revisit the horror…but I did BECAUSE my new TV career was so much more important than the inconvenient baby growing inside me. The shameful secrets just kept piling up in my heart.
I tried to bury the emotional pain in marriage, motherhood, career, and community involvement. But my heart wouldn’t settle. Those abortions haunted me…and living a lie was killing me!
I wasted so many years dealing with substance abuse, eating disorders, and lots of ANGER.
Attending a Rachel’s Vineyard retreat brought God’s love and healing back to my life… I was finally able to mourn my babies and give them the dignity and respect they so deserved.
By speaking out in love today, I hope the millions of people suffering in silence, maybe some of you here today, will step out of the shadows. Together, with our voices united, we can change this culture of death to a culture of life!
And that is why I AM SILENT NO MORE!
God Bless you all!
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Silent No More Awareness Campaign: Reach Out - Educate - Share
www.silentnomoreawareness.org |
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