{"id":309465,"date":"2024-03-28T12:39:25","date_gmt":"2024-03-28T17:39:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=309465"},"modified":"2024-04-03T11:14:00","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T16:14:00","slug":"abortion-abuse-rape-shares-truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-abuse-rape-shares-truth\/","title":{"rendered":"She had an abortion after abuse and rape, and was never the same. Today, she shares the truth."},"content":{"rendered":"
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From the time she was four years old, Joycelyn Diane Golden\u2019s life was marred by sexual abuse. She first suffered at the hands of a family member, and later, a friend of her brother\u2019s took advantage of the vulnerable young girl.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When Golden was 22 years old, she was drugged by someone she thought was a \u201cfriend\u201d \u2014 and when she awoke, realized she had been sexually exploited. The traumatized young woman couldn\u2019t remember how she got home, where she was living in her mother\u2019s basement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Golden told Live Action News, \u201cI was so messed up. I left college and had a hard time getting close to anyone, especially sexually. My mom had always been distant, and we both never could understand the other.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When Golden discovered she was pregnant from the rape, her mother promptly took her to have an abortion.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want any children, so it was an easy decision for me,\u201d Golden said. \u201cWhen the doctor first told me I was pregnant, I immediately responded that I wasn\u2019t keeping the baby. It was, I believed, just a blob of tissue.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For Golden, the baby forming in her womb wasn\u2019t real; she didn\u2019t consider her child a human being.<\/span> \u201cThe idea of being pregnant for nine months and bringing life into the world wasn\u2019t something I wanted to do,\u201d Golden said.<\/span><\/p>\n

After undergoing the surgical abortion, Golden started experiencing cramps and excessive bleeding for about two weeks. Her mother told her it was normal, but eventually Golden visited a free clinic and was treated for an infection.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe doctor wanted to know the circumstances that led to this infection, it was that serious,\u201d Golden said. <\/span>After the abortion, Golden\u2019s mother, ridden with guilt for her part in killing her grandchild, tried to pull various men into her daughter’s life, hoping Golden would marry and settle down.<\/span><\/p>\n

Golden said, \u201cShe wanted me to have another child as if to atone for the one we had conspired to kill.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She tried to numb her pain with alcohol and drugs<\/b><\/p>\n

But Golden\u2019s life spiraled downward. She soon started smoking weed and drinking heavily. She became a full-blown alcoholic by the time she was 29 years old.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She entered the Teen Challenge rehabilitation program \u2013 which, she noted, wasn\u2019t limited to teens \u2013 to address her history of sexual abuse and the abortion. All the things that were taken from her \u2013 her innocence and her baby \u2013 had profoundly impacted her life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“During my second year at Teen Challenge, I started attending Bible college, though I was still battling alcohol and drugs at that time,” Golden said.<\/p>\n

Spiritual mentor becomes the catalyst for redemption and pro-life activism\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Through a series of events, she met Martha Reeves, who became her spiritual mentor and who would be the catalyst for Golden to become active in the pro-life movement. Reeves and her husband, Bud, were involved in a pro-life ministry, the Sanctity of Human Life Network. But the Reeves\u2019 pro-life principles were at odds with Golden\u2019s ‘pro-choice’ attitude.<\/span><\/p>\n

Golden said, \u201cI constantly argued with [them], telling them that I didn\u2019t know how to vote or what to do or what to think when it came to pro-life issues. I just wasn\u2019t there yet.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Then one day, Golden picked up a brochure the couple left for her to see. She studied the birth chart which depicted the fetus at various stages throughout development. Golden realized what she had done.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis was my child who I had allowed to be murdered,\u201d Golden said. \u201cIt was such an awakening. I asked God for forgiveness for what I had done. I was trying to figure it all out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n