She was 17 years old.
Unbeknownst to her, she was drugged.
Then she was raped.
Soon thereafter, she learned she was pregnant as a result.
Daena Schroeder openly shares her story about how she was talked into obtaining an abortion, by well-meaning folks trying to help her. She recounts,
“They intended the best. They wanted to help me. And even though there are literally no studies showing any benefit from abortion, they had total confidence in the social myth that abortion is the best option, even the only option, in cases of sexual assault” (original emphasis).
Schroeder goes on to say what no one wants to believe, what no one wants to hear.
“[My abortion] just added more layers of trauma, self-doubt, grief and guilt. The negative impact lasted for years.”
Schroeder is not the only one speaking up. Her experience is not isolated.
In fact, Schroeder has joined an Ad Hoc Committee of Women Pregnant By Sexual Assault, who are petitioning the Congress of the United to let their voices be heard in shaping nationwide policy on abortion.
All of these women have suffered sexual assault albeit by rape or by incest. Some are post-abortive, as in the case of Schroeder, and want America to know they were not benefited by having an abortion—they were further traumatized.
The majority of signers of the petition chose life for their babies, and want to share how healing that experience was, and why it should be national policy to carry rape-conceived or incest-conceived children to birth.
Other signers of the petition had an abortion after being raped or the victim of incest. This group of women do not want any other women to experience their grief over an abortion and advocate against abortion even being an option for rape victims and women victimized by incest.
You can read their open letter to Congress and to the media here.
TAKE ASHLEY’S EXAMPLE
Ashley Sigrest is featured in the “Conceived in Rape and Other Exceptions” documentary. She was date raped and conceived a baby. She had an abortion and regrets it wholeheartedly.
Sigrest has not signed the petition, like Schroeder, to my knowledge. Nonetheless, she is very open to sharing to a national audience her regret over her decision to abort. Here is her story, in her own words:
TAKE ELIZABETH’S EXAMPLE
Sixteen years old, quiet, and studious. Elizabeth Cameron was snatched off the sidewalk, while walking home one day.
Thrown into the back of a van, fearing she was being kidnapped and would never see her family again, Cameron closed her eyes as her three male attackers each took a turn raping her.
A month later she learned she was pregnant.
Upon learning his daughter was pregnant as the result of a rape, Cameron’s father, thinking he was helping, scheduled for his grandchild to be killed at the local abortion clinic in the South Coast of the United Kingdom.
Everyone Cameron confided in was telling her to abort her child. Everyone, except her own mother, who supported her decision to keep the baby—as they both held strong pro-life views.
She eventually gave birth to her daughter, named Phoebe.
She said of her decision to give birth to her baby girl, “I don’t regret it for a moment. Every time I look at Phoebe, I know I made the right decision. I never wanted to end my baby’s life just because of how she came to be.”
(Elizabeth’s family name was changed for legal, protective reasons, for the purposes of the Daily Mail story linked to above.)
THE SINGLE STUDY ON THIS TOPIC AND IT HAD SURPRISING RESULTS
In the only study conducted of sexual assault victims to have conceived, 192 women were polled.
The book, Victims and Victors: Speaking Out About Their Pregnancies, Abortions, and Children Resulting from Sexual Assault
Of all the women who carried their baby to term and gave birth, “None of the women who carried to term said they wished they had not given birth or that they had chosen abortion instead. Many of these women said that their children had bought peace and healing to their lives,” reports Dr. David C. Reardon, one of the three editors of the book.
In all, 132 of the 192 women polled had given birth to the babies they conceived following sexual assault (69%). Whereas, 29% of them went through with an abortion, and 1.5% of them miscarried.
Of the women who had an abortion that ended their child’s life, nearly 80% of them say the abortion was the wrong solution.
In fact, most of the women report the abortion actually added trauma to the trauma they were already experiencing from their sexual assault.
A large percentage (43%) of the rape victims who had abortions were pressured to do so, they say.
In nearly every instance of the victim of incest choosing abortion, it was the perpetrator or a family member who arranged the abortion, not the woman herself. Several of these women say their child was killed against their wishes, or without her knowing she was even pregnant.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
I will let this evidence speak for itself. Here you have personal testimonies of precisely why abortion in the case of rape (and incest) solves nothing. Abortion actually leads to regret.
You have also been presented with statistical research coming to the same conclusion.
So, throw out the misinformation you have been told about abortion being justified in the cases of rape and incest. Let those who have lived through it speak for themselves.
The majority of women who conceive following sexual assault do choose life. Of those who choose abortion, nearly 80% regret their decision.
This is the type of information that needs to be broadcast. This is the information that should be considered when enacting policies on abortion in our nation.
This is why I am asking you to support the Ad Hoc Committee of Women Pregnant By Sexual Assault. You can visit their Facebook page. They are run by the Elliott Institute, who are doing their best to raise awareness that abortion is not the solution for victims of sexual assault.
At a later date, I will take up the issue of abortion following rape and show why it is detrimental to the well-being of the assault victim—and obviously the child as well.
YOUR TURN
So, pretty powerful testimonies, right?
What do you make of the research study?
Was your mind changed on the issue of abortion in the cases of rape and incest?
Please sound off on this or any other thoughts on this topic below!
