Planned Parenthood

As I was driving into D.C. today, I was struck by how many “Help After Abortion” stickers I saw. Don’t get me wrong; it’s fantastic to get the word out about a post-abortion service through a bumper sticker, but I started to think about the pro-life movement’s relationship with the women to whom these bumper stickers speak.

We talk about the children harmed by abortion and, to an extent, we talk about the women, too, but why is that where our conversation ends? Why is that the only communication the pro-life movement has with our fellow women, who are just as broken as we are and currently going through a traumatic time in their lives?

To the women who trusted Planned Parenthood when they told you your child was nothing more than a blob of cells …

I am so sorry. I don’t think the pro-life movement says it enough. We furiously make signs and hold protests to save children at risk of abortion, but very few times do we slow down enough to address the women who have already made the choice — the ones who knew no other option, or even those who knew they had a choice, made the wrong one, and wish they could take it back.

I am so sorry for the pain you are going through right now, and I need you to know three things:

First, you are not alone. Studies show that 55% of women regret their abortion. Many women were in your exact position, chose the exact same thing, and are going through what you’re going through. You are no worse than anyone else.

Second, you are deeply, ferociously loved. None of us in the pro-life movement are angry with you, and we don’t hate you. We want to move forward with you. In fact, plenty of women in our ranks have made the same choice you did, and that’s the reason they do what they do.

If anyone from our side has made you feel less-than or demonized, please do not let them taint your view of the right-to-life movement. This does not define you, and it does not affect your value in any way. Jesus paid the ultimate price so that, if you let Him, He can take every single sin from you.

Lastly, your experience has given you an opportunity. You have the power to speak up and change hearts and minds like very few people do. As a Planned Parenthood survivor, you have authority and credibility to help save women who are in the same position you were.

Do not, whatever you do, let the left silence you. They would like to stifle anyone who speaks out against abortion, but especially women like you who are a threat to their lie that “abortion helps women.”

Do not rush your healing, but when you’re ready, we are here with open arms, excited for you to join us in rescuing babies and women alike from the tragedy of abortion.

I have been bombarded by the media pushing a leftist political agenda my entire life.   Since my high school years, when I first noticed their deliberate attempts to push their particular perspective on me, they seem to be getting even more crass and up front in their efforts.

I remember the first time Snapchat got its new update adding magazine subscriptions for users to scroll through, read, and enjoy.  I was kind of irritated that there was only CNN and no other option for news.

This was also around the time that Twitter introduced the discover page and would only display stories from the left’s points of view.  It gets old after a while.  There have been numerous stories of Facebook pushing the same leftist ideology.

The trend continues today, and it seems to be only growing since the election of President Donald Trump.  These social networks seem to be personally invested in defeating the president and conservative values at all costs.

This is not a scientific study, so I am not 100% certain if there has been a measurable increase since then, or if I am just more politically in tune, but I am amazed at the continual efforts of the left to brainwash and influence young adults like me.

Magazines like Cosmopolitan and Teen Vogue specifically and purposely hone in on why women’s health and wellness means I must be “pro-abortion.”  More than once, I have clicked on the Snapchat Cosmopolitan story that seemed interesting, only to discover it was just spoon feeding me the abortion industry’s propaganda. Not only is abortion a choice, it’s apparently the best choice.

Young women and girls today are being influenced across the country from this undeniably exclusive rhetoric.  Teen Vogue recently published an article called “What to get a friend Post-Abortion.”  The end of the article states, “… she will need you — not because the act itself is so terrible, but because sometimes the world can be.”  Nothing wrong with that per se; pro-lifers are often the ones who come alongside post-abortive women.  But the article listed and encouraged gifts like an “F-U-terus” pin.  Lovely.

I wonder if the women writing these articles ever question why an abortion can be so traumatizing.  It is not something to take lightly.

According to one study, an alarming 50% of women who have an abortion show immediate negative responses.  The emotional impact is significant not only for the women but for anyone closely involved with the pregnant mother.

Abortion does not seem empowering to me.  In fact, the entire article proves how discouraging and dismantling it can be for someone.  To feel empowered is to feel accomplished.  What do abortions accomplish?

Does that disqualify me from being a woman?  That’s what these media influencers would like me to believe.  They do everything in their power to silence and shame young women like me by acting as if we do not exist.

What they are discovering, though, is that we will not go away.  Programs, like Concerned Women for America’s Young Women for America, are giving young women like me a voice and the space to express our views in a respectful, thoughtful, intelligent way with those who agree and disagree with us.

This gives us a great opportunity to reach other young women with a message of true diversity and inclusion that allows them to be who they want to be and not who the media elite demands.

Samantha Stohlman is an alumna of Concerned Women for America’s Ronald Reagan Memorial Internship Program. Learn more about this program by clicking here.