Nobody shows the power of personal experience better than Katie Farrell. Katie isn’t famous, but she’s a hero to me.
Katie had some very tough life experiences. When she was just 12 years old, she was sexually assaulted. She dealt with the trauma by self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. She struggled with addiction issues for years.
Katie had been raised in a devoutly Catholic home, but she didn’t find meaning in religion. Problem was, she didn’t find meaning in much of anything. She had a dead-end job, little education, and no motivation to improve her life. She was just living day to day.
Then Katie met a young man who had some serious troubles of his own. His mental illness and her addictions made for a rocky relationship.
At the age of 21, Katie became pregnant. And that is when she found meaning in her life.
Katie’s circumstances practically made her a poster child for the abortion movement. Her doctors pressured her to take “the easy way out.” But Katie courageously stood her ground and protected her son. Baby Tyler was born on January 22, 2011: the 38th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
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Katie wasn’t interested in pursuing an adoption plan, but she knew that raising her son would require some radical changes. She rose to the occasion. She tackled her addictions, and when Tyler was old enough, Katie began taking classes at a community college to give them a better future.
One of her first college assignments was to write an essay on something important in her life. She wrote about being pro-life, and about her love for her son. She wrote: “A situation may not be ideal, but it’s no cause for termination of the life one created. My son is healthy, happy, and a little chunky. He’s rebellious and lives to be the center of attention. If I had aborted my child, I wouldn’t have known any of this. I would question for the rest of my life what the “mass of cells” (as many pro-choicers will argue that thing inside your belly is) would have turned out to be.”
Now that is the voice of experience.
Katie ended her essay by saying that she looked forward to attending the 2013 March for Life, on her son’s second birthday. But she didn’t get the chance.
Tragically, that mentally ill young man, the father of Katie’s child, had not been able to turn his life around. And in March of 2012, for reasons that no one will ever understand, he killed Katie, and then himself.
Tyler was left an orphan.
Katie’s mother, Tyler’s grandmother, is keeping Katie’s legacy alive. Not only is she raising Tyler, but she has started a website, KatiesWay.org, and runs a monthly baby supplies drive for disadvantaged mothers in Katie’s home town. And Katie’s mother—her devoutly Catholic mother—reached out to me. She believes that Secular Pro-Life is the best organization to share Katie’s story. Because Katie’s story isn’t about religion or politics. It’s simply about love.
Of course I was honored that she entrusted Secular Pro-Life to spread that message. So please, visit KatiesWay.org to learn more about this amazing young woman, and to help other disadvantaged mothers.
LifeNews Note: Kelsey Hazzard is the head of Secular Pro-Life.
