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Should We Try to Normalize Abortion or Offer a Safe Place to Grieve?

Every year, approximately 1.1 million women in America who are facing unplanned pregnancies make the tragic decision to end the lives of their unborn children. 1 Since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling to legalize abortion in 1973, it's estimated that 56 million lives have been lost to this silent holocaust. Ironically, the United States, despite having one of the strongest economies and one of the most advanced healthcare systems in the world, has the highest rate of abortion of any western industrialized nation.2

With nearly one-third of all American women having an abortion by the age of 45, it has become one of the most common surgical procedures performed on women in American hospitals and clinics. Yet, because of the guilt, shame, and grief that frequently accompanies an abortion, women often choose to keep their abortions a secret - suffering in silence as they live with the pain of their tragic choice.

But recent efforts on behalf of pro-abortion advocates seem desperate to change this typical post-abortion response.

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Last year, a nonprofit organization called Advocates for Youth launched their 1 in 3 Campaign to "end the stigma and shame women are made to feel about abortion." Through social media and college campus activism, 1 in 3 uses storytelling and public awareness campaigns to normalize abortion - pushing the false narrative that abortion leaves women feeling empowered, relieved, and uplifted.

And as recently as last month, a young abortion activist name Emily Letts became an overnight YouTube sensation when her video recording of her own abortion, called "My Positive Abortion Story," soared past 1 million views and was celebrated in some nationwide media outlets such as Salon.com, The Huffington Post, and NBCNews.com. After creating a media firestorm with her provocative video, Letts defiantly responded to her critics by saying, "I hate the fact that women feel they cannot speak about their experiences. I want to change that."3

But do Letts's experience and the stories shared at 1in3campaign.org represent the majority of post-abortive women?

According to various studies, they don't even come close. Recent studies show that women who aborted within the past eight years have a 154 percent higher risk of suicide than women who carry their pregnancy to term.4 Another study shows that post-abortive women are 65 percent more likely to suffer from depression and other emotional struggles.5

It's the truth behind these stories that inspired us at Online for Life to create the website AbortionMemorial.com, a safe place where mothers, fathers, grandparents, and other family members can go to remember children who were lost to abortion.

As Online for Life became increasingly more effective at helping to rescue babies and their families from abortion, we realized there was a gaping hole in the abortion debate. We were talking about the unborn child, the mother facing an unplanned pregnancy, and even the father of the child...but we weren't talking about the post-abortive man and woman

In an effort to reach out and help these people on the road to healing, Online for Life launched AbortionMemorial.com, a website where individuals can post tributes that honor and memorialize the unborn children who've been lost to abortion. So far, over 240 testimonies have been shared on the AbortionMemorial.com wall.

As we compare the messages posted on AbortionMemorial.com to those being advocated by the 1 in 3 Campaign or even Emily Letts's YouTube video, what we're seeing are scores of women and men who are still suffering - sometimes for decades - due to the grief and shame of a previous abortion.

A quick scan of the testimonies on AbortionMemorial.com confirms these heartbreaking truths:

"There is not a day that passes by that I don't think of you. I wish every single day for a chance to turn back time, but I know that's impossible." - Anonymous

"I have never stopped grieving the baby I had whisked away from my body 37 years ago." - Mariette

"I want you to know that I am so sorry for what I allowed to have done to you. I was supposed to protect you and keep you safe." - Mike

AbortionMemorial.com serves as the antidote to desperate campaigns like 1 in 3, as it reveals the tragic reality behind abortion and allows women and men to express freely the grief and sorrow they legitimately feel in the wake of their abortions.

The truth is that pro-abortion advocates are trying to normalize an act that defies nature's laws. No campaign or video could ever make a parent feel good about ending the life of his or her own child.

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