WASHINGTON, D.C., February 14, 2013, (LifeSiteNews.com) – The first cable news network wants to hear from post-abortive women.
“As much as abortion gets debated politically, rarely do we read stories of women who have chosen to terminate a pregnancy,” CNN posted on its iReport website. “We want to hear from anyone who has had first-hand experience with abortion. How difficult was the decision? How do you feel about it now? How did it change your life?”
“Please send your submission by Feb. 15,” it concluded.
As of this writing, 117 videos, photos, and stories had been posted on the news channel's website, bearing the label “not vetted by CNN.” Most express regret, sorrow, and the pain of lost parenthood.
The negative reminisces overwhelmingly outnumber the positive.
Some of the stories are familiar. Kelly Clinger and her husband, Matt, shared their stories separately. Denise Mountenay, the fonder of Canada Silent No More, posted an essay. Sandy Arena, the author of “The Life Ballet,” wrote of her intense, emotional regret.
Others are virtually anonymous stories being shared for the first time. Some who bear their souls in painful prose write of being pressured or forced to abort.
The decision to abort cost one woman her only chance to have children.
One entry, entitled “Abortion Hurt Me,” reads only one line: “I will regret my abortion for the rest of my life.”
Not all stories are outwardly remorseful. A much smaller number of stories share their joy at having aborted.
“I survive and I have no grief, only thankfulness,” proclaimed one story.
An entry claimed to suffer negative physical symptoms from pregnancy “within a couple of days of conception,” including “the pain of the implantation.”
Another hailed Planned Parenthood for standing by her “through the process EVERY. STEP. OF. THE. WAY. They did what my parents should have done,” she wrote. “That was way back in 1987. I'm 44 now, successful career, happily married to the love of my life, and happily child-free.”
Yet many putative cases of “thankful abortion” hide regret in the details.
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A woman, who wrote that she gave her testimony because CNN had been “attacked by the anti-choice,” admitted, “I did have some regret because I let the 'What if's' get to me at one point.”
One correspondent, who maintained that she is “fully and completely Pro-Choice,” said she had an abortion three years before having the first of two children. “I think about what that child might have been, might have been like often, especially on the anniversary,” she wrote. “Then in 2001 our daughter was suddenly killed. I couldn't help but wonder if this was God's way of punishing me/us.”
Such sorrowful tales sometimes end with acceptance – and a desire to make sure other women do not suffer the same side effects they did.
A woman who was in what she described as a religious cult talked about her abortion experience, which triggered her divorce. Through the help of a crisis pregnancy center, she found healing.
She credited a Rachel’s Vineyard retreat with bringing “God’s love, forgiveness and much-needed healing back in to my life…I was able to start moving forward.”
Although CNN's coverage of the March for Life has been biased in the past, observers were surprised recently when a host made an admission about an unborn child. “How can you not define that as a person?” she asked.
Submissions may be made via this website.