Woman: How Much Does an Abortion Cost? My Whole Life

Opinion   |   Darlene Wood-Harvey   |   Nov 13, 2012   |   11:20AM   |   Washington, DC

I am speaking to you today because abortion hurts women. It’s taken me over 34 years to be healed, strong and brave enough to share my story.

In 1973, as a 22-year-old, naïve and unsuspecting college girl, a long way from home. I hung out with nice, but amoral people who drank alcohol and were involved in pre-marital sex. I went along with the crowd and the consequences were my getting pregnant, although I didn’t know it at the time. I was too proud and independent to ask my family for help. I ended up at a “free” Planned Parenthood clinic (PP). They did a test and told me it was “positive.” PP told me “it” was “only a blob of tissue” which could easily be removed for $200 (cash).
Physical Cost of Abortion

When I arrived for the “procedure,” the man entered the room and said something about giving me a shot and that I would hear a sound like a vacuum. He did NOT tell me about the horrible cramping and pain I would experience. I was awake through the procedure and experienced excruciating pain.  I was crying and did not understand what was happening. I’ll never forget the pain and the noises coming from the tubes going out of my body. Everything went silent. The “doctor” turned away as he said I could rest a few minutes and leave by the back door. Immediately after the abortion, I felt nauseous, had sharp pains, experienced a lot of bleeding and weakness-too sick to sit. I was traumatized. This was my first gynecological experience. To this day I have trouble going to see a gynecologist.

The Cost of Infertility

During the following months, I STILL experienced severe pain and bleeding. I did not trust Planned Parenthood, so I went to a doctor who told me what the “procedure” was…an abortion! He also told me that PP had put an IUD inside me WITHOUT my knowledge or consent!  I felt violated, betrayed and angry! I demanded the IUD to be removed, which was very painful. The doctor said the tissue damage and scarring in my uterine lining from the abortion and IUD may cause me to be childless. Planned Parenthood’s abortionist killed my only child and I am childless.

Emotional Cost of Abortion

At this point, I hated myself. I made bad decisions for my life. Nightmares filled my life. I became a workaholic and a near alcoholic. About three years after the abortion, I suffered from low self-esteem, physical pain and many other symptoms including panic attacks, short-term memory loss, debilitating fatigue, isolation and suicidal depression. I thought I was going crazy! I saw a psychiatrist. He told me I wasn’t crazy, but that I was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome.  The hell and reality of remembering the abortion started in the early 1990’s and continued until March 2008. Abortion cost me my womanhood.

The Cost to Women’s Lives

Thank you Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I am now forgiven and set free and active in helping other women to NOT make the same mistake I made! The most important thing about abortion that I think people need to know is that abortion is not the answer to problems.  Abortion creates problems. Women need to SEE and HEAR THE TRUTH ABOUT the destruction of ABORTION and how it kills their unborn children.  Women need love.  Abortion destroyed what made me a woman. Abortion wreaks havoc on women’s lives – it is NOT a safety net, but a HEALTH HAZARD!

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Conclusion

I regret my abortion.  Women deserve better than lies – they need Truth. With God’s help, I’ll defend TRUTH.  I choose both the woman and her baby whose heart is beating at four weeks! I AM SILENT NO MORE.    Thanks be to God – there is help and hope for hurting post-abortive men, women, and families through His Grace and Mercy.

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