I never thought I’d say this: Run, don’t walk, to the nearest newsstand to find the current issue of Seventeen magazine. The September issue — available as of August 1 — has a powerful article on page 156 titled, “My Mom Made Me Get an Abortion”. (The article isn’t posted on the Seventeen website; apparently it’s only available in print.) The lead-in to the article reads:
When Christy, now 18, got pregnant, she decided to keep the baby. But her mother had other plans.
Christy’s story is heartbreaking. She got pregnant by her boyfriend, the first guy she had had sex with. She had every intention of keeping the baby, but was pressured by her mom and boyfriend to have an abortion. Christy recalls:
That Friday, August 5, Mom, Glen, and I went to the clinic. In the exam room a nurse asked if I wanted the procedure explained to me, and I said no. Then when the doctor came in, I wanted to yell, “No! Wait!”–but the words didn’t come. I started crying hysterically. The doctor inserted something cold and hard inside me; it felt like my insides were being ripped out. I’d never felt such pain. After the procedure, the nurse brought in my mom to calm me down. But when she tried to hug me, I pushed her away. I cried the whole way home, and for the next two weeks, I stayed in my room, crying and sleeping–and thinking about my baby. My mom kept apologizing for being the one who’d pushed for it. It’s been a year since the abortion, and I still wish I’d had the baby. I think about her every day and write to her in my journal.
God bless you, Christy, for having the courage to speak out about your horrific abortion experience. You are in our prayers.
