Fear Said I Would Be Alone When I Got Pregnant. Love Proved the Opposite.

What right did I have to make the decision to end another person’s life? I had talked to women that had – and they had such heartbreaking stories to tell. 

By Caterina J
Live Action News

I was just a few weeks shy of my 20th birthday when I found out I was pregnant.

“Congratulations! I am so excited for you!” my sister quietly said, tears in her eyes. I leaned against the wall of the CVS bathroom and took a shuddering breath, looking at those two telltale pink lines on the pregnancy test, trying to convince myself it was a dream or some kind of hallucination. The room seemed to spin around me, and I felt as though the wind had been knocked out of me. Excited??? No, I didn’t feel my sister’s excitement. “Promise me you won’t tell anyone,” I begged.

Like most 19 year olds, I wasn’t planning on getting pregnant. Maybe someday in the future… when I’m financially independent, married, and have already had my fun and travelled the world – then I can think about it. But right now? Hell no.

READ: An unplanned pregnancy changed this drug-addicted mom’s life for the better

2017 was supposed to be the year I got my sh*t together. 2016 had been too crazy. I had attempted suicide, dropped out of college, moved across the country for treatment for 7 months, and finally conquered an eating disorder that had ravaged my life since my early teens. 2017 seemed off to a great start – I was happy and healthy for the first time, and planning on going back to college. I had a new job, a new boyfriend, and things were finally getting on track.

But now this? a baby? What was I supposed to do with a baby?

Friends and family members all reacted differently.

“What are you going to do?”

“That’s amazing. You are a badass.”

“That’s a huge responsibility.”

“Whatever you decide to do – I support you.”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t have the baby.”

It seemed like an impossible situation.

I wasn’t old enough to have a child. I didn’t have a degree. I didn’t have enough money. I didn’t have my own home. I wasn’t married. How dare I bring a child into this world without knowing for sure that I could take care of him? It wasn’t the right time. I wasn’t ready.

Photo via thelifesource.org

READ: How my unplanned pregnancy at 39 taught me the power of faith over fear

Yet I knew I would regret having an abortion. What right did I have to make the decision to end another person’s life? I had talked to women that had – and they had such heartbreaking stories to tell. Stories of regret, of feeling powerless, of being afraid.

I was so afraid.

Much of my life, I had made decisions in fear, and it had gotten me nowhere. Fear of others’ opinions had turned me into an actress, pretending to be someone I was not. Fear of feeling my emotions had caused me to find any excuse to numb myself. Fear of hurting others’ feelings had kept me spiraling in codependent and unhealthy relationships. Fear of life itself had consumed me, and I had spent so much time running from reality.

I had learned over time that decisions made in fear are the decisions we regret.

This time, I had to make a decision out of love. Love for myself and love for the tiny human growing inside me.

Continue reading here

Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. To read our Mission Statement, use this link.  Follow us on Facebook, Google, and Pinterest.  Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.

Pregnant, need help or know someone who does?  

National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131.

In Southeast Penna:  Call the Community Women's Center at  215-826-8090

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.  

Getting Pregnant in College Wasn’t the End of My Story, but the Beginning

She is my entire life, and I never knew how much I could love someone until I met her.

By Anna Corace
Live Action News

In a day and age where there are multiple forms of birth control, I still managed to get pregnant in college. I was too old to be on Teen mom, yet too young for anyone to know whether or not my pregnancy should be congratulated. My pregnancy was not at all planned, but that does not mean that my daughter was not meant to be here.

It all started about a year ago, on November 11th, 2017. That was the day that my period was due to arrive, and it had always shown up right on schedule. But that day was different. I figured that my period would come a bit later on in the day, but just to reassure myself I decided to take a pregnancy test. There, in my dorm room bathroom, I saw two faint lines appear. Suddenly the impossible was very much possible. I was pregnant.

Baby Noelle (Photo courtesy of the author)

I instantly began to panic and called my boyfriend of three months, who assured me that the test was wrong. “There’s no way you’re pregnant,” he said. Later on that day we went to the drugstore and picked up two more tests. “Just to be sure,” he said, “but I promise you, you’re not pregnant.” Two tests later and the results were in. I was officially pregnant. 

The only thing I could think was that I had ruined my life. I was a resident advisor in college, and a member of student government. I was only in my junior year of undergrad, and still had plans to go on to grad school. 

I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to have kids, how could I have a child without a stable income to provide for them?

Abortion. The answer was simple. I could abort the clump of cells and be done with it. I could rewind the clock and no one would have to know. I even got into contact with Planned Parenthood to find out a little more about the process. But after a few days I knew I couldn’t do that. My strong Lutheran upbringing and beliefs held fast, and prevented me from having one. The next answer, I reasoned, was adoption. Both my baby’s father and I were in college, and had no genetic defects. Why, anyone would be lucky to have this baby! I figured that I could find my baby some really awesome parents, better than two irresponsible college kids.

For about five months I believed that I would be able to place my baby up for adoption, and that I would be doing what was best for her. I looked through multiple couple’s profiles, and I even found one that would be the perfect fit. However, the day I felt my baby girl kick for the first time I knew I couldn’t go through with it. 

“This is my baby,” I thought. “She is my daughter, and I can be her mother.”

That one decision of deciding to keep my baby changed my life forever. I signed up for summer classes and managed to graduate with my bachelor’s in political science and psychology a full year early. I spent that summer waddling to and from my classes and work, trying hard to avoid staring eyes. Then, on July 22nd, 2018, Noelle Sedona Corace was born. She is my entire life, and I never knew how much I could love someone until I met her.

Continue reading here

Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. To read our Mission Statement, use this link.  Follow us on Facebook, Google, and Pinterest.  Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.

Pregnant, need help or know someone who does?  

National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131.
In Southeast Penna:  Call the Community Women's Center at  215-826-8090

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.  

She Almost Aborted Her Baby. But a Pink Rosary and Unexpected Text Message Held Her Back

Alina Dulgheriu and her Daughter

By K. V. Turley
Life Site News

On a winter’s day in 2009, a young Romanian woman was walking down a London street on her way to an abortion center. She was eight weeks pregnant. The weeks prior to her decision to go there had been traumatic.

On 3 October she had found she was pregnant. She telephoned the father of the child, her then boyfriend’s response was immediate: “You have to have an abortion.” But she didn’t want to. Instinctively she knew it was wrong and wished to carry on with her pregnancy.

He pressed her further: “Are you going to be a father to the child?” She was confused. He then told her something she did not know: “I can’t have another child.” With this new information, the pregnant woman knew she was on her own, in more ways than one. And then, when he realized that she was going to continue with the pregnancy, he began to laugh mockingly down the phone line at her predicament.

A few weeks later the same boyfriend re-appeared in the woman’s life, this time with his cousin. Together they tried to pressure the woman into having an abortion.

Still, the woman persisted in her desire to have the baby. That said she had never felt so alone. Everything had changed on that morning she discovered she was pregnant. She had collapsed on seeing the test results. Later, all she could remember was how everything had suddenly turned black, and, indeed, seemed to remain so in the weeks that were to follow.

At that time she had been working as a nanny in London. Until then, her employers were happy with her work. They had made her part of their family. She had a job, money and accommodation. All of that changed when she told her employers she was pregnant. They asked her to leave immediately. As well as pregnant she was now unemployed and homeless in a foreign country.

She called her parents in Romania. Her mother told her to have an abortion. Her parents had little else to say to her.

Now she was becoming desperate, increasingly so. Frantically, she searched for help – any help - practical, emotional, anything, but found only indifference. It was clear that she was alone and that everyone around her was pointing to one solution only. Reluctantly, she started to listen to that advice. In the end, she decided to have an abortion.

So on that winter’s day, it was a solitary figure that made its way to an abortion center in central London. As she drew near the place, she began to cry. She steadied herself as best she could, as all around her the impersonal hustle of the city continued, but still the tears rolled down her cheeks. And, yet, inside her head there seemed to be two competing voices, one telling her to stop and turn back, another telling her to go through with the abortion. Through her mounting depression, she struggled on.

Finally, the street name she had been searching for came into view. As she drew near to the doorway of the abortion center, a woman approached her. She held out a leaflet with the image of a baby in a womb. The Romanian woman recognized the image instantly for she had gone for a scan weeks previously. 

Then, she had witnessed with delight the images on the screen of her own baby moving in her womb; while watching, the expectant mother had felt an unexpected joy. She turned to the stranger beside her still holding the photograph.

“Can you help me?”

The woman facing her replied: “ Yes, I can help you.” The two began exchanging some information, included phone numbers. At that moment, the door of the abortion center flew open. An employee of the center stood staring at the two women talking. Recognizing the woman holding the leaflet, the employee’s face turned to anger.

The stranger who had offered to help was an older woman. She continued to look straight at the Romanian woman, before drawing something from a pocket and handing it to the woman. It was a pink plastic rosary. The younger woman took it. And, as she did so, she turned to the abortionist in the doorway and said: “They can help me.” And with that, she left clutching the recently received rosary accompanied by a woman whom she had just met.

That was not the end of the matter though. Days later the Romanian would return to the same place.

The advice and the promises of help seemed too good to be true for the pregnant Romanian. The voices in her head kept telling her this, and more so now that “the clock was ticking”, if she did not go through with the abortion soon she would have to keep the baby. So, days later, she returned to the abortion center.

The same woman who had given her the rosary was again standing outside. This time the Romanian went straight past her into the center.

Inside the abortion center, she now recalls only two emotions: fear and tension. She also remembered a distinctly uneasy feeling from the moment she found herself there. It was as if the center walls were closing in on her, suffocating her, crushing the life within her.

A disinterested center receptionist gave her a form to fill out, and then sent her off to a dingy waiting room. As the Romanian was sitting there, form in hand, her phone lit up unexpectedly. There was a message:

“We can help you. We can help you today. We can help you now”. 

Life Site News story continues here

Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. To read our Mission Statement, use this link.  Follow us on Facebook, Google, and Pinterest.  Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.

Pregnant, need help or know someone who does?  

National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131.
In Southeast Penna:  Call the Community Women's Center at  215-826-8090

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.  

When Your Daughter Tells You She’s Pregnant

By Lauren Urrea
National Right to Life

When I was told by the local crisis pregnancy center that I was pregnant, I was given a “goodie bag” with a variety of handouts and information packets explaining my pregnancy, prenatal care, local OBGYN offices, and what to do next.

I took the packets home with me and read through them with my best friend that night, really just searching for any glimpse of hope or encouragement I could find. Among those packets was a small booklet and on the front was a picture of a girl with a worried look on her face.

The first page read, “When your daughter tells you she’s pregnant, try not to overreact.”

I don’t know if it’s because I was tired of crying, or still in shock, but I laughed. We both laughed. We threw around ideas of how to get the packet to my parents anonymously, knowing that there was no way on God’s green earth that any parent would take this news lightly and not overreact even a little bit.

Nearly six years later, I have a much better understanding of how important that reaction really was. With thousands of abortions occurring daily, I’d be willing to bet a good majority of them are out of the fear of telling a parent or loved one.

The fear of that awful look of disappointment and despair. The fear of the angry words that may escape without forethought. The fear of the criticism, judgement, and shame. The fear of the guilt- oh that horrible guilt for disobeying your parents’ best wishes for your purity. The fear of the irreparable damage this may do to your previous relationship with them. All of those fears become so immense, so quickly. It’s indescribable really.

For the most part, I’ve written blogs about my own experience as a way of trying to encourage other young ladies facing those fears. But now as a mother myself, and with a better (albeit, not perfect) understanding of it all, I realized I’ve really never done much in the way of encouraging the unsuspecting parents. The day they discover their daughter is pregnant is similarly terrifying for them as it is for her, and although I don’t know it personally, I experienced it face to face.

So I think, in hindsight, if I could have re-written that little packet I would have wanted it to say something more along these lines:

(Disclaimer: This is not solely based off of my own parents’ reaction, but also others’ experiences that have been shared with me.)

When she tells you she’s pregnant, she will be terrified beyond comprehension. And so will you.

Her younger years and the dreams for her future will flash before your eyes. You will be disbelieving, angry and most of all utterly shocked because this can’t be real, can it? Believe me when I say she has felt that already. Chances are she has already been through this phase, and will have been dreading watching you go through it, too. She knows full well how “big” this is, and has probably already cried over the many, many ways this will affect her future–and yours.

She is so scared, and that is why she is coming to you.

You chased the monsters from her closet, put bandaids on all her boo-boos, held her hand to help her overcome her fears, wiped her tears through many heart aches, and now she is here again for something so much bigger. And yet her needs are the same. She needs you to hug her, remind her of your unconditional love, and show her that this too will eventually be okay. Even if you are unsure of that yourself.

She will have thought through every word she says to you, and she may have even rehearsed it to friends or other family members. She will be so nervous that she may stumble over what words to say to you. Do not misinterpret this for lack of caring or not understanding the depth of the situation. To her, words just may not be enough to encompass it all.

National Right to Life article continues here

Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. To read our Mission Statement, use this link.  Follow us on Facebook, Google, and Pinterest.  Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.

Pregnant, need help or know 
someone who does?  

National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131.
In Southeast Penna:  Call the Community Women's Center at  215-826-8090

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.  

‘I Am With You’: YouTube Star Was About to Go Ahead With Abortion When God Spoke These Stunning Words

By Will Maull
Faith Wire

When musician Kimberly Henderson found out she was pregnant back in 2013, she felt like she didn’t know which way to turn. She was young, her boyfriend was cheating on her and she felt utterly overwhelmed at the thought of having to look after a child. So, she did what millions of Americans have chosen to do — she decided to have an abortion. But that wasn’t the end of Henderson’s story.

The singer became famous for a video she posted of herself singing to her daughter, Vaida. Within just one week, it garnered a staggering 20 million views on YouTube.

Kimberly eventually released her debut single, “Tiny Hearts.” She told TV host Steve Harvey that the song is about “her children, single moms and the journey of motherhood.”

But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for the star. In an incredibly insightful and honest Facebook post, the singer and YouTube sensation took fans back to those fateful moments as she waited to terminate the life of her unborn child:“I had my mind made up. My boyfriend was cheating on me. I have small kids, what will people think?? I kept telling myself I’m all alone I need to do this,” she wrote in the post.

But Henderson still felt uneasy about what she was about to do. She was extremely emotional at the thought of ending her unborn baby’s life, and was weeping uncontrollably.

“I prayed God would stop and give me a sign, give me the strength to get up and walk out of here,” she explained.

Then, as she waited for hours to be called forward for the fatal procedure, she cried out to God for help, asking Him for a sign. What happened next was utterly remarkable:

“The lady called me to the desk. Last step before you go back. I fumbled through my wallet to find my drivers license and out fell a card a couple left on the table Saturday night when I was working. … It had their church name on it. On the back was a common verse:

 ‘Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.’ Isaiah 41:10

"I knew God was speaking to me.”

Immediately, Henderson knew she was making a terrible mistake.

Faith Wire story continues here

Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl Champ Tackles Abortion in His City

By Jay Hobbs
Live Action News

While his upcoming appearance at a kickball tournament isn’t likely to help Philadelphia Eagles free safety Chris Maragos get ready for the 2017 NFL campaign, he still considers it among the most important things he’ll do this offseason. 

Maragos, who won a Super Bowl ring with the 2013 Seattle Seahawks and is entering his fourth season on the Eagles, is set to participate, along with his wife, Serah, at a fundraiser for AlphaCare’s “Kick It for Life” fundraiser May 27 in Philadelphia. 

A pro-life pregnancy help center that operates a mobile medical unit, AlphaCare began serving women just a wall away from the shuttered abortion clinic of convicted murder Kermit Gosnell this January, with the ultimate goal to purchase and re-purpose the clinic itself.

Supported by the community since 1981, AlphaCare’s latest fundraising endeavor will go toward a $25,000 goal to fuel the mobile unit, which offers free pregnancy tests, ultrasounds and social services to women in need.

Maragos, an outspoken Christian, said he and his wife were drawn to partner with AlphaCare because of its distinctly Christ-centered approach to meeting the needs of women who feel that abortion is their only way out of a desperate situation.

Read: NFL Super Bowl champion Matt Birk: I am ‘unapologetically pro-life’

“Each mother with doubt in her heart needs all of us,” Maragos said. “She needs us, she needs Jesus, to rally around her, to soothe her pain and lift her spirits. She needs to know that she is not alone.”

Pregnancy, Maragos pointed out, is challenging enough even under ideal circumstances. By every measure from the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, for example, most women who resort to abortion do so because they feel alone and abandoned by their families and—most prominently—the father of their unborn babies.

Recalling the joy he and Serah experienced in finding out they were expecting each of their two sons, Micah and Mason, Maragos reiterated the need for organizations like Alpha Care, which come alongside women facing unexpected pregnancies in over 2,500 communities around the U.S. and all over the globe.
Editor’s Note: This article was published at Pregnancy Help News on May 11, 2017, and is reprinted here with permission.

Live Action News continues  

Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. To read our Mission Statement, use this link.  Follow us on Facebook, Google, and Pinterest.  Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.

Pregnant, need help or know someone who does?  

National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131.
In Southeast Penna:  Call the Community Women's Center at  215-826-8090

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.  

The Happiest, Most Inspiring Pro-Life Story You’ll Read Today

By Aleteia, Sherry Antonetti
Live Action News'

I’ve been to marches; I’ve prayed at clinics. I’ve written articles and letters to the editor. And I have 10 children. Yet the most effective witness I ever gave to the pro-life cause was when I wasn’t trying to do anything other than find a way to not be lonely.

Back in 1993, I became a mother and I felt the walls of the world close in. So I went out — out seeking connections and adult conversations and anything to help distinguish one day from the next as I worked to recover from pregnancy and adjusted to being a full-time mom.

One day, I saw the receptionist at our apartment and it looked like she’d been crying. I asked her what was up. She told me, “You.”

I didn’t understand, but she invited me in to sit with her. It turned out she’d just broken up with her boyfriend and found out afterward that she was pregnant. Two girlfriends already offered to drive her to get an abortion, but she said seeing my son every day, holding him as he smiled and kicked, she couldn’t. She just couldn’t.

Her reaction to me actually echoed my own reaction to someone else: I’d become a stay-at-home mom because I’d seen a baby boy in the daycare and witnessed his smiles. I couldn’t not be with my son, I just couldn’t. That unknown baby’s smiles led to my staying home and being desperately lonely … and that led to sharing my son’s smiles with this pregnant receptionist. I hugged her and we cried over her worries.

We talked about what she could do. I’d never counseled anyone before, but we created a plan. It involved calling a doctor to get herself checked, calling her folks to get support and calling her boyfriend to let him know. I didn’t know what would happen, but told her we’d be there for her regardless. She gave my son a kiss and dried her eyes.

I left thinking that the loneliness of being a new stay-at-home mother was nothing compared to hers. It rained hard for the next week, so I didn’t get out for my daily walk. The few times I made it by the office, she wasn’t there. I worried.

Live Action News story continues

Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. To read our Mission Statement, use this link. Follow us on Facebook, Google, and Pinterest. Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.

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.  

Project Mater – An Oasis of Help for Pregnant Mothers

By Blanca Ruiz
Catholic News Agency

Madrid, Spain, Jan 2, 2017 (CNA/EWTN News) Maria* has not had an easy life. Several years ago, while pregnant with her second child, she checked into a detox center for those with drug addictions. Social services had already taken temporary custody of her first child, as she was in no condition to take care of her.

But determination and the help of Project Mater has made it possible for her to move forward. The 32-year-old is now rehabilitated and receives help from the organization, which is dedicated to supporting mothers at risk of abortion and social exclusion.

“If it weren't for Project Mater, I could not have gotten my daughter back. They've helped me to have housing, food and the basics. I am really grateful to them,” she told CNA.

Maria sees the assistance not as a permanent measure, but as “a push to go forward, especially because the children's father is in prison in another country.”

Now pregnant with her third child, she is drug-free and finding that life is beginning to stabilize.

“When I got pregnant with my third child I honestly did think of aborting. The first people I told were my mother and Balbi [Balbina Rojas, the coordinator of Project Mater]. She congratulated me and told me she would help me and that everything would work out ok.”

“Without Mater, I couldn't have done it. I wonder what I would have done if they hadn't been there,” she said.

Project Mater was started by Archbishop Braulio Rodríguez of Toledo, who wished to implement a diocesan project that would involve family counseling centers, life and family ministries, the pastoral secretariat of the diocese and Caritas.

Catholic News Agency story continues 

Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. To read our Mission Statement, use this link. Follow us on Facebook, Google, and Pinterest. Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.

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 are experiencing pain or loss because of an abortion, please know there are many organizations where you can find help. Call 1-800-5WE-CARE.