{"id":2242432,"date":"2024-05-11T13:31:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-11T17:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/i-survived-an-abortion-how-my-story-has-shaped-me-this-mothers-day\/"},"modified":"2024-05-11T13:37:05","modified_gmt":"2024-05-11T17:37:05","slug":"i-survived-an-abortion-how-my-story-has-shaped-me-this-mothers-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/i-survived-an-abortion-how-my-story-has-shaped-me-this-mothers-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Surviving Abortion: My Journey&#8217;s Impact This Mother\u2019s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fi-survived-an-abortion-how-my-story-has-shaped-me-this-mothers-day%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2242432&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>On Mother\u2019s Day, amidst discussions on reproductive rights, the journey of surviving an abortion shaped my identity. Discovering this truth as a teenager led to \u200bfeelings of confusion and unworthiness, despite the love of my adoptive family. Overcoming these emotions through counseling and self-awareness, I reunited with my birth mother, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/search-and-rescue-crews-saluted-as-surfside-condo-collapse-efforts-come-to-an-end\/\" title=\"Search and rescue crews saluted as Surfside condo collapse efforts come to an end\">bringing closure<\/a> \u2062and compassion to\u200c my story. Mother\u2019s Day sparked reflections \u2063on my identity\u2062 shaped by surviving an abortion. \u200cUnveiling this truth in adolescence evoked confusion and insecurity, overshadowing my adoptive family&#8217;s love. With counseling\u200b and self-awareness, reuniting \u200bwith my birth mother brought closure and compassion to my journey.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">With all the talk of women\u2019s reproductive rights this Mother\u2019s Day, my perspective is that without first surviving an abortion, I would have never had the opportunity to become a mother \u2013 whether it was through pregnancy, adoption, or kinship care.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It\u2019s no secret that abortion is a defining political issue in 2024. As these conversations, campaigns, and debates ensue, there are realities, voices, and relationships that are often overlooked. While I acknowledge everyone has a complex relationship with someone else in their life, here is my story.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I grew up in a loving home in Iowa, knowing I was adopted, (along with my older sister) to parents who loved me. I would say I had a great childhood. But, at the age of fourteen, I <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">accidentally <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">found out that I survived an abortion, which crumbled the world I thought I knew. I wrestled with not only the typical angst of figuring out who I was, independent from my family, but with the layers of being adopted <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">and<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  as an abortion survivor, it was confusing. Subconsciously, I felt unloved and unwanted because of the culture surrounding me \u2013 the culture that often communicates that abortion is not only a choice, but a <em>right<\/em>. It created a narrative for me that a child who is aborted is unlovable and unwanted. I began to struggle with self-worth and identity, even with a caring and supportive adoptive family I wondered, \u201cAm I loved?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When my birth mom 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, I was born, leading my birth mom to think the abortion was successful. I was rushed to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-rules-north-carolina-abortion-ban-unconstitutional\/\" title=\"Court Rules North Carolina Abortion Ban Unconstitutional\">neonatal intensive care unit<\/a> (NICU) \u2014 and unbeknownst to her for decades, lived, and was placed for adoption.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was devastated when I learned the truth about my past. I didn\u2019t want to be a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">survivor<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. I felt a range of emotions from guilt for surviving when thousands of other babies had not, to resentment towards my birth family, to ultimately feeling alone. I didn\u2019t know of any other abortion survivors who shared the same experience. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As a young adult in my twenties, I embarked on a journey to not only learn more about my past but to heal. I went to counseling and began processing forgiveness towards my birth family, still unaware of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/walsh-media-says-capitol-riot-killed-five-people-the-truth-is-more-complicated\/\" title=\"WALSH: Media Says Capitol Riot Killed Five People. The Truth Is More Complicated.\">circumstances surrounding<\/a> my birth. While studying for my social work degree, I began seeing common threads to apply to my own story and healing. Self-awareness about the residual anxiety and fears of being a survivor through my studies became an important part of my healing, while unknowingly also laying the foundation for the future services of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/abortionsurvivors.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Abortion Survivors Network<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I knew I was adopted and had survived a saline abortion attempt, but the details became clearer after ten years of searching. I tried countless times to find my birth family and one day, I found some identifying information. Yet, the biggest breakthrough was found through my medical records, which had been unattainable for me over my ten years of searching. When I finally received those papers, I discovered more details of my \u201cbirth\u201d, along with my birth parents\u2019 names.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I had more answers to my abortion survival story and could finally begin attempts at making contact with my birth family and learning more about my origins in life. In 2016, I reunited with my birth mother. For over thirty years, she was led to believe the abortion had been a success. This revelation brought a new level of understanding about women who have walked through abortion, including those whose abortions fail. I will never forget the pain in her eyes when we first met \u2014 a pain that my survival helped dull, but the pain from an attempted abortion I could never erase.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Reconciliation brought not only peace within my story but a new compassion and a fight for women like my birth mother. Women who often feel like they have no other choice.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Healing Helps Us Find Our Voice <\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">After going public with my story over the years, I started hearing \u201cme too\u201d in return. I found solace in knowing that I wasn\u2019t alone as an \u2018abortion survivor\u2019. Connecting with other survivors helps to make sense of our own story and answer many questions that we may not have known existed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The cultural conversations surrounding abortion are at a new high. It seems each state is fighting for abortion, not to mention it is the year to vote for the next president of the United States. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But what about my right to live?<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  What about my fellow survivor friends? What about the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/stephen-king-blasts-senator-susan-collins-over-texas-abortion-law\/\" title=\"Stephen King Blasts Senator Susan Collins Over Texas Abortion Law\">pre-born babies<\/a> still fighting for their lives?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This Mother\u2019s Day, I feel the increased importance to share my experience \u2014 for the sake of not just survivors like me, but our mothers \u2014 biological and adoptive. There is a glaring gap of care and understanding for survivors and their families, including women like my birth mother, Ruth, and my adoptive mom, Linda. For all women, those who have experienced an abortion know that you aren\u2019t alone, or who raise an abortion survivor and have questions and concerns they\u2019re grappling with, we need to acknowledge that these circumstances happen.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>* * *<\/p>\n<p><em>Melissa Ohden, is the founder and CEO of <a href=\"https:\/\/abortionsurvivors.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Abortion Survivors Network<\/a> and is\u00a0a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/student-activists-at-catholic-university-protest-mlks-pro-life-trump-supporting-niece\/\" title=\"Student Activists At Catholic University Protest MLK\u2019s Pro-Life, Trump-Supporting Niece\">pro-life speaker<\/a>, 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\u2019s in Social Work, Melissa is also the author of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/You-Carried-Me-Daughters-Memoir\/dp\/0874867886\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=15IEJ3OBI06GO&#038;keywords=you+carried+me&#038;qid=1694023247&#038;s=books&#038;sprefix=you+carried+me%2Cstripbooks%2C95&#038;sr=1-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">You Carried Me: A Daughter\u2019s Memoir<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>If you or someone you know is an abortion survivor, please reach out to Melissa Ohden at melissa@abortionsurvivors.org<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amid discussions on women\u2019s reproductive rights this Mother&#8217;s Day, surviving an abortion has shaped my perspective. It&#8217;s clear that without this experience, I wouldn&#8217;t have had the chance to embrace motherhood through pregnancy, adoption, or kinship care. Abortion remains a significant political issue in 2024<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1573,"featured_media":2242433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/05\/GettyImages-1186257627.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2242432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/05\/GettyImages-1186257627.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2242432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1573"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2242432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2242432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2242433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2242432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2242432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2242432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}