{"id":26990,"date":"2013-02-06T14:19:16","date_gmt":"2013-02-06T19:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=26990"},"modified":"2013-02-07T08:45:19","modified_gmt":"2013-02-07T13:45:19","slug":"former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/","title":{"rendered":"Former pro-choice woman speaks out: My abortion was “physically traumatizing and emotionally painful”"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Editor’s Note: The author of this article has requested to be identified as Abby. Here is her personal story.<\/em><\/p>\n

I am a 26-year-old, working as a weather forecaster in Washington, D.C. I have experienced a\u00a0traumatizing\u00a0medical abortion and am a recent convert to the pro-life\u00a0movement.<\/p>\n

At the start of my college career, I got involved in women’s right groups with my friends and strongly supported abortion for all women at their discretion. I saw nothing wrong with someone wanting to pursue all the opportunities that she could. My view has changed dramatically after my own personal experience:<\/p>\n

\"Women<\/a>

Women commonly suffer after an abortion. And they need not suffer in silence…<\/p><\/div>\n

A year ago I went to an OBGYN and said I needed a termination of pregnancy. I was “only” six weeks pregnant, but at 25 I had no job, and my parents couldn’t really afford to look after me, so I decided that termination would be the most appropriate course of action.<\/p>\n

My boyfriend had no opinion either way, and I didn’t tell anyone else. The doctor was quite cheerful, examined me, and was all too helpful to do blood tests and explain the abortion-inducing pill procedure without even mentioning counseling, talking to a friend, or asking about my mental health. This pill is claimed to be the “safest” and “most convenient” method for early termination. I thought, “Great, it’s all over in three days!” and went on my merry way.<\/p>\n

First pill down, no side effects. Forty-eight hours later, time for second pill. One hour after that, I was screaming and crying, writhing in agony on the floor. I couldn’t move; I was on the verge of passing out; I couldn’t even see – blinded by the pain.<\/p>\n

My boyfriend picked me up and rushed me to the emergency room, where I waited, still sobbing and thrashing with pain. When the triage doctor finally saw me, my blood pressure was dangerously low, and my heart rate was all over the chart.<\/p>\n

When I told him about the abortion, he callously said that I would be “fine” and pricked me with a needle to jolt my blood pressure higher – but still dramatically low. I was sick for two more days, drugged up on the heavy-duty painkillers that the ER doctor had prescribed for me.<\/p>\n

When I returned to the OBGYN a week later and told him about my ordeal and severe reaction, he just looked at me questioningly and said, “You seem all right; you didn’t bleed out.” No sympathy, no concern.<\/p>\n

These “convenient,” “safe,” and “easy” medical abortions are downright dangerous. After researching (which I admittedly should have done beforehand), I have found that there is nothing “safe” about them – hemorrhage, massive drop in blood pressure, and shock are just some of the plethora of side effects.<\/p>\n

My\u00a0agonizing\u00a0experience, not to mention the intense guilt I still feel (for I’m sure the baby was in agony as well), has made me\u00a0realize\u00a0that abortions do nothing more than hurt the mother and<\/em> the baby.<\/p>\n

I no longer believe that abortion is “pro-woman.”\u00a0It only serves to burden our minds and hurt our bodies. If the doctor had\u00a0recommended\u00a0counseling, or if I had spoken to my parents, I am almost sure that I would have kept my baby. Perhaps not – but if I’d known about what I was going to put myself through, I definitely would have thought twice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“If the doctor had recommended counseling, or if I had spoken to my parents, I am almost sure that I would have kept my baby.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":17287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nFormer pro-choice woman speaks out: My abortion was "physically traumatizing and emotionally painful" - Live Action News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former pro-choice woman speaks out: My abortion was "physically traumatizing and emotionally painful" - Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\""If the doctor had recommended counseling, or if I had spoken to my parents, I am almost sure that I would have kept my baby."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-02-06T19:19:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-02-07T13:45:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/dreamstimefree_15274348-1024x744.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"744\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Guest\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8f9b71db4fc7dc6c298d6a4130e314d9\"},\"headline\":\"Former pro-choice woman speaks out: My abortion was “physically traumatizing and emotionally painful”\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-02-06T19:19:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-02-07T13:45:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/\"},\"wordCount\":596,\"commentCount\":7,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Human Rights\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/\",\"name\":\"Former pro-choice woman speaks out: My abortion was \\\"physically traumatizing and emotionally painful\\\" - Live Action News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-02-06T19:19:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-02-07T13:45:19+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Former pro-choice woman speaks out: My abortion was “physically traumatizing and emotionally painful”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8f9b71db4fc7dc6c298d6a4130e314d9\",\"name\":\"Guest\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4667a497702cce771203a526142735dc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4667a497702cce771203a526142735dc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/guest\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Former pro-choice woman speaks out: My abortion was \"physically traumatizing and emotionally painful\" - Live Action News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Former pro-choice woman speaks out: My abortion was \"physically traumatizing and emotionally painful\" - Live Action News","og_description":"\"If the doctor had recommended counseling, or if I had spoken to my parents, I am almost sure that I would have kept my baby.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2013-02-06T19:19:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-02-07T13:45:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":"1024","height":"744","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/dreamstimefree_15274348-1024x744.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Guest","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/"},"author":{"name":"Guest","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8f9b71db4fc7dc6c298d6a4130e314d9"},"headline":"Former pro-choice woman speaks out: My abortion was “physically traumatizing and emotionally painful”","datePublished":"2013-02-06T19:19:16+00:00","dateModified":"2013-02-07T13:45:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/"},"wordCount":596,"commentCount":7,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Human Rights"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/","name":"Former pro-choice woman speaks out: My abortion was \"physically traumatizing and emotionally painful\" - Live Action News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-02-06T19:19:16+00:00","dateModified":"2013-02-07T13:45:19+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-pro-choice-woman-speaks-out-my-abortion-was-physically-traumatizing-and-emotionally-painful\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Former pro-choice woman speaks out: My abortion was “physically traumatizing and emotionally painful”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8f9b71db4fc7dc6c298d6a4130e314d9","name":"Guest","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4667a497702cce771203a526142735dc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4667a497702cce771203a526142735dc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Guest"},"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/guest\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26990"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}