Abortion survivor: My story matters.
The Impact of Abortion: Survivors Speak Out
The following article contains graphic elements necessary for the telling of this story.
September is Abortion Survivor Awareness Month. To understand the wide-ranging impact of abortion on society, we must also understand the trauma abortion inflicts. This trauma is shared by the mother and the child, the target of the abortion. Most often, that child is left without a voice, but today abortion survivors are speaking out.
I was 14 years old when I learned I was an abortion survivor. I remember feeling angry and betrayed that I didn’t know about this secret of my birth. When I was 19 years old, my curiosity led me to do more research about my birth. I poured over the details of my adoption and found more information in my medical records.
By the time I was 30 years old, I finally reconnected with my biological mother. She was overwhelmed with emotion and had carried the weight of my life in her heart for years. I, too, was overwhelmed, but as she shared her experience with me, those feelings of anger and betrayal were soon replaced with gratitude, forgiveness, and empathy. I was grateful for my life and hoped she could find peace where guilt and pain had once lived in her heart.
I learned that, despite loving my birth father, she was forced to abort me. When she was 31 weeks pregnant, her mother, a prominent nurse at a local hospital, forced her to have a saline-induced abortion to end my life. For days they injected a toxic solution into the amniotic fluid, a solution designed to poison and scald me until I was delivered dead.
On the fifth day, after my birth mother was administered numerous rounds of Pitocin to induce labor, I was delivered by a nurse, alive. My birth mother was led to believe the abortion was successful.
My grandmother, however, demanded I be left to die. Despite her orders, a nurse rushed me to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). I weighed two pounds, 14 ounces, I suffered from jaundice and severe respiratory distress, and doctors believed I would suffer from many physical and emotional disabilities due to the abortion procedure and my premature birth. I remained in the NICU for 21 days and was eventually transferred to another hospital. I suffered from severe respiratory and liver problems and seizures, and the doctors worried I had a fatal heart defect.
Despite all of these serious issues, I was adopted by loving parents who nurtured and cared for me. They knew I might not survive, but if I did, I would likely be disabled. Despite the odds, my body healed, and I lived a normal childhood. I had an older sister, who was also adopted, and our parents loved us.
The abortion industry hates that I exist. Abortions fail more often than one might think. I survived an abortion and I am not afraid to tell my story. The existence of survivors like me is rarely mentioned, nor is the emotional, mental, and physical trauma we endure.
The path abortion survivors face is difficult at best. For most of us, the biggest fight of our lives began before we even drew our first breath. Our physical and emotional health are compromised, and sometimes we never understand why, until we discover our birth story. Even then, our beginnings are covered up and hidden through the laborious process of uncovering our medical records. We live in a culture that celebrates a “procedure” designed to end a life.
The abortion industry has shaped our culture. They have long argued that abortion is safe for women while suppressing the voices of survivors. They shout and insist that women should be proud of choosing abortion, that women can’t thrive without abortion as an option, and that women are made whole by their abortions. Yet, they actually force women to hide their pain, regret, and the “health care” that changed the trajectory of their lives.
Today, survivors of abortions are telling their stories as they watch our culture debate the value of their lives. Women who have experienced failed or reversed abortions have largely been unseen, unheard, and unserved, but thankfully that is changing. Together we are pushing back against the lies and efforts to hide the pain and trauma abortion causes.
Our experiences of having survived an abortion, sometimes multiple abortion attempts, color our lives and relationships. The impact ripples from our mothers and fathers to extended family members, adoptive families, and friends who have raised a survivor. Medical professionals, clinic staff, and adoption workers also feel the consequences of abortion. We know you are there, you are not alone.
Every child, born or unborn, has a purpose. These realities are why I am raising awareness about abortion survivors and the truth that abortions can fail. My hope is we can create a society where women are supported and encouraged, and where loving parents can raise every unborn baby.
Because every life matters, the mother’s and the child’s.
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Melissa Ohden, is the founder and CEO of The Abortion Survivors Network and is a pro-life speaker, leader, and advocate who often appears on television and radio shows. She has spoken on Fox News, The 700 Club, Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), One America News (OAN), Hannity, Focus on the Family, and more. Having earned her Master’s in Social Work, Melissa is also the author of You Carried Me: A Daughter’s Memoir.
If you or someone you know is an abortion survivor, please reach out to Melissa Ohden at [email protected]
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