“We made the decision together but I’ve never felt so alone.” That is just one testimony from a woman suffering post-abortive pains, on the new website www.AbortionChangesYou.com . The site is not designed to offer counseling, nor to compile pro-life or pro-choice arguments and news stories. What it does aim to provide is a forum for the stories that go untold—a way for women who have experienced abortion, along with friends and family, to tell how abortion has affected them. To give support and insight to those battling similar decisions, and to ponder their decision themselves.
The site was founded by Michaelene, a woman who herself has struggled to make sense of her grief over losing a child to abortion. In her words: “Over the years I’ve heard many heartrending stories about abortion. Although each story is unique, a common thread moves through them all—abortion changes you. Yet there is no forum to help abortion participants—and the people who are closest to them—explore this tragic truth. Although abortion has touched many of us, we rarely share our personal experiences regarding it.” This website, with personal stories, poetry, and art submitted anonymously by those impacted by abortion, begins to fill this need. Here, for example, is an excerpt from one woman’s reflection:
Regret-filled nights
A child with wings
A haunting memory,
Oh how it sings
A forever melody
On my mind;“Where have you gone
Sweet child of mine?”
Thoughts pondered
Choices made;
A journey beginning
As its future fades . . . .“The agony surrounds me.
You’re all around me.
Do you hear me?
I beg you forgive me.”
