My name is Angelina Steenstra. I am the National Coordinator of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, which began, in Canada, in May 2004.
I was the victim of a date rape at the age of 15. When I reached out to an abortion help line to gather information, I was told abortion was the obvious solution to my problem.
But nobody told me abortion would be just the start of so many problems to follow.
Nobody told me when I walked through the doors of that abortion mill in Buffalo, New York that I would have to watch as the remains of my child filled up a glass jar next to me.
Nobody told me the sound of that terrible procedure would be indelibly seared in my mind and heart.
Nobody told me that the shame and guilt of my secret would lead to self-loathing that led me to cut myself off from family, friends and God.
Nobody told me that I would seek refuge in drugs, alcohol and serial sexual encounters.
Nobody told me that the “solution” to my pregnancy would set me on a course destined for suicide.
Nobody told me that my new home would be a deep abyss of loneliness and isolation.
Nobody told me I would become a workaholic, living on coffee and cigarettes.
Nobody told me I would never have living children, or grandchildren.
Nobody told me that for the rest of my life, I would have to live with the knowledge that I ended the life of an innocent child. My child. I named her Sarah Elizabeth.
Fourteen years after the abortion, after I had gotten married, I suffered an ectopic pregnancy that ended the life of my son, Joseph Michael. Grieving him gave me permission to face the truth. The death by abortion of my first child was absolutely, morally, and objectively wrong. Nobody told me that before the abortion.
But being able to face the truth, finally, brought me relief from the years of suffering. The inner conflict came to an end. I finally grieved my daughter’s loss.
As bad as abortion is in the US, we have it worse in Canada. The deadly procedure is considered a medically necessary procedure, fully funded by Canadian taxpayers at all stages of the pregnancy from conception to birth.
I will continue to speak out and be Silent No More until abortion is unthinkable everywhere!