{"id":319419,"date":"2024-09-29T09:00:36","date_gmt":"2024-09-29T14:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=319419"},"modified":"2024-09-27T00:08:59","modified_gmt":"2024-09-27T05:08:59","slug":"teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame\/","title":{"rendered":"As a teen she was pressured into abortion, resulting in years of repressed grief and shame"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Healing is always an ongoing journey for post-abortive women, says Stefanie Libertore, Director of Recovery Services at the Hope and Healing Center<\/a> in Ohio<\/span>. Libertore knows this first hand \u2014 she had an abortion at 18 and traveled a long and painful road to recovery.<\/span><\/p>\n

A senior in high school, Libertore was dating a boy two years older when she discovered she was pregnant.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Libertore told Live Action News, \u201cI was terrified. I had been sexually active since I was 16 but never thought I would ever face an unplanned pregnancy. Strangely enough, my boyfriend\u2019s mother had told me I was pregnant before I knew myself. My parents were divorced, and I was afraid to tell them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When she finally confided to her mother, she offered support, telling Libertore she would marry her boyfriend.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI totally bought into that,\u201d Libertore said. \u201cMy mom made me feel that we could get through this together. At the time, I didn\u2019t know much about abortion, and it wasn\u2019t even a possibility anyway.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But that would change when Libertore\u2019s mother told her father about the pregnancy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Libertore said, \u201cWhen my mom called to tell him of the news, the first thing he said was, \u2018She\u2019d better not be pregnant,\u2019 and I felt shamed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Outside pressure leads to abortion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Later that evening, Libertore\u2019s father and stepmother brought over a flyer from a local abortion facility. He told Libertore she would not be getting married.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018I know you\u2019re going to make the right decision\u2019 and I knew what he meant,\u201d Libertore said. \u201cMy mother did not speak up and my boyfriend also never interfered. I suspect my father may have had a conversation with him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On a cold day in early February, Libertore\u2019s mother and stepmother drove her to the facility to have the abortion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Libertore said, \u201cI cried the whole time I was there. I was put to sleep during the surgery but when I woke up, I felt so empty inside. Nobody spoke on the drive home. A few months later, my boyfriend and I broke up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After high school, she enrolled in college \u2014 and three years later, dropped out.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was in bad shape,\u201d Libertore said. \u201cI was looking for validation from sexual liaisons and my relationships with men all ended the same way, further adding to the shame and rejection I already felt. I started experiencing panic attacks and had nobody to talk to about what I was going through.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Surrendering to Christ leads to forgiveness and a mission to help other women heal<\/b><\/p>\n

Raised in the Greek Orthodox Church, she was a believer but didn\u2019t have an intimate relationship with Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n

Libertore said, \u201cI struggled with depression and at times would curl up in a ball and cry. I suddenly developed a lot of anger and didn\u2019t know why.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Seven years after her abortion, Libertore offered her burden to the Lord and received forgiveness. She experienced a newfound joy and peace in her salvation and started attending a non-denominational church.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI dove headfirst into the Word,” Libertore said. \u201cI found the Word thrilling and couldn\u2019t get enough of it. It was the best time of my life when I started following Christ.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She was led to volunteer at the pregnancy support center as a client advocate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Libertore said, \u201cI felt I could atone for my abortion if I prevented just one woman from having one. I didn\u2019t think I needed abortion healing because I had a relationship with the Lord.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As a follower of Christ, Libertore was committed to go where He opened a door. She didn\u2019t expect it would lead to missions trips two summers concurrently. She decided to leave her full-time job for missionary work, but wasn\u2019t sure where to go.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was praying one day when I heard the Lord say one word: Petersburg,\u201d Libertore said. \u201cI thought that might have meant St. Petersburg, Florida, but there wasn\u2019t a mission base there. I realized I was meant to go to Russia, and so I went.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Before she left, a friend working at the pregnancy support center suggested she take along a post-abortive study, and she agreed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Libertore said, \u201cI decided to look through the study during my flight and I was just stunned. I started to feel panicked, but it was a turning point that began my grieving journey. In the period that followed, I never experienced such grief, but I was grateful to feel the loss that I hadn\u2019t dealt with for so long.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

READ: Toni experienced first hand that \u2018abortion destroys a woman\u2019s soul, but God offers redemption\u2019<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

She was compelled to fast until the weight of her abortion was fully lifted \u2014 but felt the Lord moving her in another direction.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI heard the Lord tell me not to fast, but to celebrate, that he had been waiting for me to get to this point,\u201d Libertore said. \u201cHe was going to see me through this process of healing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Upon returning home, Libertore called the pregnancy support center and met with a mentor who assisted her in unpacking all the denial, grief, and shame she had buried. Yet there were still parts of her past that Libertore needed to reconcile.<\/span><\/p>\n

Libertore said, \u201cI realized the difference between forgiveness and healing. When I received healing, I didn\u2019t think my life could get any better than that, but the Lord got me on the road to also rectifying my sexual past.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Filling the missing pieces<\/strong><\/p>\n

She finally understood her desire to fill the missing pieces in her life had led her to desperately seek love with men who could never give it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad was emotionally distant so I went along with what he wanted hoping he would love me, and everything would go back to normal,\u201d Libertore said. \u201cThis made a huge impact on my decision to have the abortion. But I had played the blame game for too long, and I had to take responsibility for the poor choices I had made.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In July, Libertore traveled to Chattanooga to the National Memorial for the Unborn<\/a>, where she memorialized the child she had lost and experienced another layer of healing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Libertore said, \u201cThe healing process is not just \u2018one and done.\u2019 I urge women to continually seek restoration for the deep wounds inflicted by abortion and to face their sexual past. It\u2019s important to learn to make healthier, more life-affirming choices. The Lord has so much good in store for all of us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Urge Walmart, Costco, Kroger, and other major chains to resist pressure to dispense the abortion pill<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Healing is always an ongoing journey for post-abortive women, says Stefanie Libertore, Director of Recovery Services at the Hope and Healing Center in Ohio. Libertore knows this first hand \u2014 she had an abortion at 18 and traveled a long and painful road to recovery. A senior in high school, Libertore was dating a boy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":798,"featured_media":319422,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[9455],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nAs a teen she was pressured into abortion, resulting in years of repressed grief and shame<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Seven years after her abortion, Stefanie Libertore offered her burden to the Lord and received forgiveness.\" \/>\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\/teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"As a teen she was pressured into abortion, resulting in years of repressed grief and shame\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Seven years after her abortion, Stefanie Libertore offered her burden to the Lord and received forgiveness.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame\/\" \/>\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=\"2024-09-29T14:00:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-27T05:08:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/stephanie-libertore.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"610\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lisa Bast\" \/>\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=\"Lisa Bast\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lisa Bast\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/34782b86b64b0e02332ac29878e1cacf\"},\"headline\":\"As a teen she was pressured into abortion, resulting in years of repressed grief and shame\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-29T14:00:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-27T05:08:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame\/\"},\"wordCount\":1125,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Human Interest\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame\/\",\"name\":\"As a teen she was pressured into abortion, resulting in years of repressed grief and shame\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-29T14:00:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-27T05:08:59+00:00\",\"description\":\"Seven years after her abortion, Stefanie Libertore offered her burden to the Lord and received forgiveness.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"As a teen she was pressured into abortion, resulting in years of repressed grief and shame\"}]},{\"@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\/34782b86b64b0e02332ac29878e1cacf\",\"name\":\"Lisa Bast\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a29a0208d5fe076ee78a14cdb67b6c0a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a29a0208d5fe076ee78a14cdb67b6c0a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lisa Bast\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/lisa-bast\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"As a teen she was pressured into abortion, resulting in years of repressed grief and shame","description":"Seven years after her abortion, Stefanie Libertore offered her burden to the Lord and received forgiveness.","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\/teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"As a teen she was pressured into abortion, resulting in years of repressed grief and shame","og_description":"Seven years after her abortion, Stefanie Libertore offered her burden to the Lord and received forgiveness.","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2024-09-29T14:00:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-09-27T05:08:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":610,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/stephanie-libertore.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lisa Bast","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lisa Bast","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame\/"},"author":{"name":"Lisa Bast","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/34782b86b64b0e02332ac29878e1cacf"},"headline":"As a teen she was pressured into abortion, resulting in years of repressed grief and shame","datePublished":"2024-09-29T14:00:36+00:00","dateModified":"2024-09-27T05:08:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame\/"},"wordCount":1125,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Human Interest"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame\/","name":"As a teen she was pressured into abortion, resulting in years of repressed grief and shame","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-09-29T14:00:36+00:00","dateModified":"2024-09-27T05:08:59+00:00","description":"Seven years after her abortion, Stefanie Libertore offered her burden to the Lord and received forgiveness.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-pressured-abortion-grief-shame\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"As a teen she was pressured into abortion, resulting in years of repressed grief and shame"}]},{"@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\/34782b86b64b0e02332ac29878e1cacf","name":"Lisa Bast","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a29a0208d5fe076ee78a14cdb67b6c0a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a29a0208d5fe076ee78a14cdb67b6c0a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lisa Bast"},"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/lisa-bast\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319419"}],"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\/798"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319419"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":319549,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319419\/revisions\/319549"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}