When I Was Pregnant and Scared, Planned Parenthood Refused to Help Me

"We can’t help you if you want to keep the kid.”

By Summer Burton
Live Action News

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was supposed to be on a date, but a quick trip to Wal-Mart and one positive pregnancy test later, I told my boyfriend to drop me off at my house. I went straight to my room and sat there for hours, trying to come up with a solution for this unplanned baby I was now carrying.

What was I going to do?

I didn’t know the first thing about being a mom, and furthermore, I had never really wanted kids. I liked kids, sure, but I didn’t spend my teenage years dreaming about what my future husband and I would name our kids or how many we would have.

I had plans: I was going to travel, maybe go back to school, maybe move to a random city and “discover myself,” as so many 21-year-olds do. Yet here I was — an uninsured, college-dropout, working part time at a coffee shop, with no real direction in life, who drove a car that broke down every few weeks, who also wasn’t married. This could not be happening to me!

The next day, I broke the news to my best friend, who was no stranger to unplanned pregnancies, and I asked her what I should do. She came over immediately and talked to me for a few minutes. She told me I didn’t have to have this baby if I didn’t want to and that it was my right and my choice to end the pregnancy. 

I had heard that before — seen it on billboards even: “It’s your body, it’s your right!” It sounded like it was supporting women’s rights, and I was in support of women’s rights. So why did it seem so unfathomable to me that it might actually be okay if I ended this pregnancy?

I remember growing up thinking abortion was wrong, but I never fully grasped the concept until I had to face an unplanned pregnancy head on. For a split second, it seemed so clear why women would have an abortion. They could make this all go away without anyone else finding out. But I knew in my heart it was the wrong choice. 

As a Christian, I knew what God said about the sanctity of life. I fast-forwarded my life in my head, pondering the idea of how killing my own child would haunt me forever.

Live Action News story continues

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Pregnant, need help or know someone who does?  

National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131.
In Southeast Penna:  Call or text 610-626-4006  

If you or someone you know is suffering after abortion, confidential non-judgmental help is available.  Call Project Rachel's national toll-free number 888-456-HOPE (4673) or visit hopeafterabortion.org.