Kali faced ridicule and nasty gossip when she chose life for her unborn son at age 13.
Raped and impregnated by a stranger, Kali said people pressured her to have an abortion and friends turned against her, according to Live Action News. But after hearing her unborn son’s heartbeat, the very young mother knew that she could not abort her baby.
“It was an emotional time, but [choosing life] wasn’t honestly that hard of a decision at the time,” she told Live Action. “That’s a life. To me, abortion is murder, and so I’m totally pro-life completely now that I’ve been put through one of the most horrible situations.”
Kali said she was so traumatized by the rape that she kept it a secret from everyone. The trauma made her sick, and she lost 20 pounds, she said. But 12 weeks later, she said she realized that she might be pregnant and had to tell her family.
“I was three months pregnant so it was three months until my family knew anything had happened,” she said. “My mother cried and told me everything was going to be okay. She was totally supportive. I was in the hospital vomiting when I found out, and she looked at me and said, ‘You know what? It will be okay.’”
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When other family and friends pressured her to consider abortion, Kali said her mother was her “backbone,” encouraging and supporting her through all the struggles. Over the next several months, however, she continued to endure vicious gossip, bullying, and even stigma from doctors and nurses.
“Everyone said, ‘You’re going to ruin your life. You’re making a mistake. It would be so much easier if you got an abortion. You’re too young,’” she told Live Action.
Only one of her friends stayed by her side, Kali said. Others spread rumors about her sleeping around with various boys, and someone spray-painted the word “whore” on her house.
“The bullying got really bad,” she said.
Here’s more from the report:
With her mother by her side for every single ultrasound, Kali remained strong through difficult times during the pregnancy and even an emergency C-section. She went into labor nine times – as early as 14 weeks – and had to change OB/Gyns three times because of poor treatment. …
“One woman, who was a midwife, said, ‘Well, if you lose this baby, you’re young, it shouldn’t matter. You can have another one.’ I told her it wasn’t okay to say that,” said Kali.
Because of pregnancy complications, Kali underwent an emergency cesarean section at 28 weeks of pregnancy and gave birth to her son, Smitlee. Her son spent five weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit because he was born so prematurely, according to the report.
That was about 10 years ago. Kali said police eventually caught the man who raped her; he had raped several other women, too, and he went to jail.
Today, she said she and her son are thriving. She raised him as a single mother, graduating early from high school and attending college while working part-time.
To the people who judged and ridiculed her, she said: “I hope they start giving women more respect and keep their negative comments to themselves because those really aren’t needed in that stressful time.”
Kali said she hopes her story will help people understand that abortion is not the answer to rape. She said her son brought beauty from a tragic situation.
“There is no better gift in the entire world, no matter what anyone else tells you,” she told Live Action. “There is no better gift than that baby.”
