Over the past few months I have to come to know and become friends with several women who have had abortions. I love these women, I love their humility and their honesty and their courage. All of these women are now very involved in the pro-life movement sharing their own stories of pain, heartache, regret, denial, shame....and eventually forgiveness and peace. They work tirelessly to help other women. In my mind, they are heroes.
One of the pages I follow on Facebook is called "Silent No More Awareness", their mission is to:
-Reach out to people hurt after abortion, encouraging them to attend abortion after-care
programs. Invite those who are ready to break the silence by speaking the truth about
abortion's negative consequences and the path to healing.
-Educate the public that abortion is harmful emotionally, physically and spiritually to
women, men and families, so that it becomes unacceptable for anyone to recommend
abortion as a 'fix' for a problem pregnancy.
-Share our personal testimonies of hurt and healing to help others avoid the pain of
abortion. Here is their website:
http://www.silentnomoreawareness.org
One of the women that is part of this group wrote a poem and just shared it on Facebook
and I though I would share it here (I cannot even begin to imagine the courage it would take to write a poem like this and be willing to share it so openly with others. I'm sharing it because I KNOW that there are women who are out there silently hurting from abortion and if this poem helps just ONE WOMAN feel like she's not alone, then it was worth posting it):
I Didn't Know by Patti Smith
I swept you away so long ago; I tried to move on, to forget
To believe you never were.
I continued my life as if nothing happened, ignoring the regret
To convince myself I didn’t care.
Some days would come when feelings would surface that I didn’t understand
Sadness filled my heart.
I would shrug it off, chalk it up to life, just stuff to withstand,
Trying not to fall apart.
I didn’t know that it was you, opening my eyes to see,
That you wanted to be remembered as a special part of me.
The sadness grew and followed me, no matter how hard I tried to run,
It grabbed my last ounce of joy.
There was nowhere else to go; my life had come undone,
My spirit was destroyed.
When I finally reached out for help, I learned the reason for my strife.
It was something I’d not done.
I hadn’t mourned for what was swept so quickly from my life,
To grieve for my little one.
I didn’t know that it was you, opening my eyes to see,
But now you are remembered and are a forever part of me.
Patti J. Smith
3/22/13
