{"id":329906,"date":"2025-04-20T15:59:43","date_gmt":"2025-04-20T20:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=329906"},"modified":"2025-04-17T22:17:43","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T03:17:43","slug":"brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"Because another brave woman shared her story, Tallie sought healing from her abortion"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Tallie Stafford was 16 years old, active in sports, and had been dating her high school boyfriend for three months when she suspected she was pregnant. She went to the community health department at school to take a pregnancy test.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Stafford told Live Action News, \u201cI heard the phone ring. It was the health department. The pregnancy test was positive. I was adamant that I wasn\u2019t going to go through with the pregnancy.\u201d <\/span>When Stafford told her boyfriend, he was against her choosing to have abortion, as was his mother \u2014\u00a0yet they provided the funds for her to have the abortion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNone of the adults in my life tried to stop me from having the abortion,\u201d Stafford said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Teen believes abortion is only solution to unplanned pregnancy<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was Stafford\u2019s best friend who was the most supportive and who pleaded with her to reconsider the abortion, but she just couldn\u2019t fathom being a single mother at 16.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stafford said, \u201cI believed the lie that abortion was the only way to relieve the stress of an unplanned pregnancy and subsequent single motherhood. It saddens me to think that ending a pregnancy was the \u2018norm\u2019 for the society I was living in. I didn\u2019t know much about the procedure but felt sure it was the right thing to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The facility she visited was more like an old home rather than a traditional clinic or doctor\u2019s office. She was given an ultrasound, but the screen faced away from her.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was told I wasn\u2019t far enough along to get the abortion, and I\u2019d have to come back in two weeks,\u201d Stafford said. \u201cIt was at that time my boyfriend tried to wreck his car, he was so distraught.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

READ:<\/strong> Mom encouraged to abort baby, even as doctors worked to save others like him<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But two weeks later, she went back for the abortion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stafford said, \u201cI had to sit out of sports games and marching band. I told everyone at school I had ulcers. I didn\u2019t want them to know the truth, but my best friend knew and so did the person who went with me to get the pregnancy test.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Soon, everyone in school would know about her abortion. Stafford would be tormented by her classmates for what she had done.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy classmates would put notes in my locker declaring \u2018abortion is wrong,\u2019\u201d Stafford said. \u201cThen, my science book was stolen, then returned. Written inside the book in large letters was \u2018Tallie is a baby killer\u2019.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Eventually, the bullying escalated, forcing Stafford to leave school. Her friends had pushed her away; out of desperation, she moved in with her boyfriend.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stafford said, \u201cHe became abusive after the abortion, but the relationship got more toxic over time. He once donned black gloves and threatened to put his hands around my neck and squeeze until I was dead.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He found her birth control, prompting her to stop taking it. Within a year, Stafford was again pregnant.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis would be my \u2018redemptive child,\u2019 in the hopes my boyfriend would love me again,\u201d Stafford said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet while she was pregnant, she was taunted with cruel remarks from her boyfriend\u2019s mother\u2019s co-workers who told her the baby she was carrying wouldn\u2019t cancel the sin of abortion.<\/span><\/p>\n

About six months after the birth of her baby, Stafford split with her boyfriend and finished high school, later attending college.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Revelation from a fellow churchgoer spurs a redemptive, healing journey<\/b><\/p>\n

Later, Stafford married and became a mother to two more children. During this time, twinges of regret and guilt would manifest from time to time, but she would stuff her emotions and trudge on \u2014 for many years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stafford said, \u201cThese feelings of guilt, shame and regret became too strong to push away when we started to have grandchildren. When our granddaughter passed in 2021, I felt like God was punishing my daughter for my sin.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

These feelings continued to grow over the next two years as she struggled with shame, dwelling on what she had done at that tiny clinic years earlier.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, in 2024, Stafford read the testimony of a woman on Facebook who was post-abortive. The woman, Adriana Camp<\/a>, was a fellow churchgoer. Stafford was shocked to learn about her past. <\/span>\u201cI thought she was so brave to be so open,\u201d Stafford said. \u201cShe was now dedicating her life to saving precious babies. I wanted to reach out to her. Little did I know that by connecting to her, it would lead me to my healing journey.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It began at the church\u2019s annual ladies conference. Stafford had not attended for a few years but felt a strong pull to go. Yet, it seemed as if she encountered so many obstacles to thwart her plans.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stafford said, \u201cAs I began to get ready to go, I felt like God spoke to my heart. Out of nowhere, God told me to disclose my abortion to Adriana at this conference. I didn\u2019t know her well but felt I needed to talk to her.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When she arrived at the conference, Stafford was disappointed when she couldn\u2019t locate Camp. She wondered if she really heard God\u2019s voice directing her to reach out to the woman. <\/span>\u201cI kept hearing the words, \u2018in due time,\u2019 Stafford said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The next morning after the service, Stafford was waiting in the back of the conference room when she noticed Camp.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI went over to her immediately, grabbed her hand and out rushed the secret I held onto for 30 years,” Stafford said. “She wanted to know my baby\u2019s name, and to my surprise, I told her, \u201cBrayden Deshaun.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was the first time that Stafford had ever said her baby\u2019s name out loud. Now, she could face the demons that had haunted her for too long and embrace redemption. <\/span>\u201cI received the Holy Ghost when I was 21,\u201d Stafford said. \u201cI felt forgiveness for my abortion but still struggled with the weight of shame and condemnation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Camp encouraged Stafford to share her baby\u2019s story with his siblings and to host a memorial for him. She urged Stafford to pick out a special flower for him like she had for her own son. She provided Stafford with information about an abortion recovery program.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stafford said, \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a justification for the decision that I had made, but it was the beginning of mourning a child that up until this point I didn\u2019t feel I had a right to.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Camp also directed Stafford to an abortion recovery program.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI finished this program at the end of October and through the word of God I have been able to start to heal some of my deepest wounds,\u201d Stafford said. \u201cIt took one woman\u2019s courage to share her pain that helped me see how important it is to speak out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tallie Stafford was 16 years old, active in sports, and had been dating her high school boyfriend for three months when she suspected she was pregnant. She went to the community health department at school to take a pregnancy test.\u00a0 Stafford told Live Action News, \u201cI heard the phone ring. It was the health department. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":798,"featured_media":329908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[9455],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nBecause another brave woman shared her story, Tallie sought healing from her abortion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At a conference, \u201cI went over to her immediately, grabbed her hand and out rushed the secret I held onto for 30 years."\" \/>\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\/brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Because another brave woman shared her story, Tallie sought healing from her abortion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At a conference, \u201cI went over to her immediately, grabbed her hand and out rushed the secret I held onto for 30 years."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion\/\" \/>\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=\"2025-04-20T20:59:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-18T03:17:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Tallie-Stafford-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\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=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lisa Bast\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/34782b86b64b0e02332ac29878e1cacf\"},\"headline\":\"Because another brave woman shared her story, Tallie sought healing from her abortion\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-20T20:59:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-18T03:17:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion\/\"},\"wordCount\":1158,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Human Interest\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion\/\",\"name\":\"Because another brave woman shared her story, Tallie sought healing from her abortion\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-20T20:59:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-18T03:17:43+00:00\",\"description\":\"At a conference, \u201cI went over to her immediately, grabbed her hand and out rushed the secret I held onto for 30 years.\\\"\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Because another brave woman shared her story, Tallie sought healing from her abortion\"}]},{\"@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":"Because another brave woman shared her story, Tallie sought healing from her abortion","description":"At a conference, \u201cI went over to her immediately, grabbed her hand and out rushed the secret I held onto for 30 years.\"","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\/brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Because another brave woman shared her story, Tallie sought healing from her abortion","og_description":"At a conference, \u201cI went over to her immediately, grabbed her hand and out rushed the secret I held onto for 30 years.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2025-04-20T20:59:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-18T03:17:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":650,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Tallie-Stafford-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Lisa Bast","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lisa Bast","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion\/"},"author":{"name":"Lisa Bast","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/34782b86b64b0e02332ac29878e1cacf"},"headline":"Because another brave woman shared her story, Tallie sought healing from her abortion","datePublished":"2025-04-20T20:59:43+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-18T03:17:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion\/"},"wordCount":1158,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Human Interest"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion\/","name":"Because another brave woman shared her story, Tallie sought healing from her abortion","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-04-20T20:59:43+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-18T03:17:43+00:00","description":"At a conference, \u201cI went over to her immediately, grabbed her hand and out rushed the secret I held onto for 30 years.\"","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/brave-woman-tallie-sought-healing-abortion\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Because another brave woman shared her story, Tallie sought healing from her abortion"}]},{"@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\/329906"}],"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=329906"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":329986,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329906\/revisions\/329986"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}