Many in the media readily accuse pro-life Americans of everything from racism to attacking women’s bodily autonomy. But Americans who challenge abortion are telling a different story – their own story.
They recently flocked to Twitter to share why they are pro-life. Lila Rose, president of pro-life group Live Action, prompted them by asking, “What was the moment you realized you were pro-life?” Hundreds of people responded and many openly shared what inspired them to identify as pro-life, from realizing what abortion entails to being personally wounded by abortion.
“For me, it was seeing my baby sister’s ultrasound picture and marveling at the miracle of her life,” Rose tweeted on April 14.
Several people on Twitter said that they identified as pro-life when they realized the reality of what abortion is: the violent destruction of an innocent human being.
“When in college someone handed me a picture of a victim of abortion,” Penny Nance, CEO, and president of Concerned Women for America responded. “They warned me and I choose to look. I saw arms and legs and I knew... that's the remains of a baby who was violently killed. I was never the same.”
Kira Davis, editor-at-large at Redstate, agreed.
“Seeing my first child in an ultrasound. He was sucking his thumb,” she remembered. “I told my husband, ‘If we wanted to, we could go to a clinic right now & have this baby taken out & no one would bat an eye.’” That’s when she knew “for sure.”
Last year, “I started doing research on abortion, and I couldn’t stop,” one woman named Nenechi replied. “I’ve always said that I want children to reach their full potential, but they can’t if they aren’t born.”
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Another woman named Chloe tweeted that she realized she was pro-life “When I read about how abortion procedures are performed and watched doctors talking about how it’s done.”
Bernadette added, “I was a small child and saw some dead baby photos that were going to be used outside a clinic. My mom explained what abortion was and I couldn’t stop crying for a week.”
Another admitted, “I was militantly pro-abortion until I saw the pictures.”
Many Twitter users said they realized that they were pro-life because of their children.
One mother revealed that she “got pregnant by my abuser at 20.”
“I realized my life isn't over just because I had a baby,” she said. “My baby gave me strength to leave my abusive relationship.”
Another mom named Abigail added that she “didn’t feel so strongly about it until I heard my own unplanned child’s heartbeat.”
A dad knew he was pro-life “When a nurse was insisting my daughter should be aborted” because “she would not survive the womb.” Today, she’s completely fine, he said, and now has two children of her own.
Others realized they were pro-life after suffering miscarriages.
“I actually miscarried twice... until I got pregnant I didn't know how quickly they grew that their heart begins beating at 4-6 weeks,” one mom tweeted. “Even though they were tiny they were still my babies.”
A dad wrote, “Years ago my wife miscarried 4-5 months into the pregnancy. I held my little son in my hands and wept. He was a perfectly formed tiny little baby.”
Others knew they pro-life when a family member became pregnant.
“It was when I realized that my younger sister could have been aborted,” one woman named Audrey typed. Her sister “was prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome, which she does not have.” But “Even if she did, her life would be no less precious.”
Some Twitter users said that they were pro-life because they realized that they – or their friends – could have been aborted.
While she had always been pro-life, Christina said that she became firm in her stance when “I grew up enough to realize that my birth mom very well could have aborted me to cover the mistake she made.”
Sheryl remembered that, while in high school, a younger friend admitted that her mother told her, “You would have been an abortion if I could have gotten one.”
Others were pro-life because of their friends’ experiences.
One Twitter user realized she was pro-life “When I went with my friend to her abortion.”
It “was botched & she had to go to the hosp. to finish the procedure,” she continued. “I held her hand throughout the process, when done the doctor held up the remains with much joy. I was sick & [heartbroken].”
Molly said that she changed “When a woman I knew seriously considered abortion because it was twins and she already had two young kids, then changed her mind and I met those amazing babies.”
Someone else added, “What cemented it for me was sitting with a high school friend who was weeping after her father forced her to have an abortion.”
Others had experienced abortion personally.
One woman wrote, “To Be 100 % Honest. After my Abortion. It was the Worst experience of my Life! I had a nervous breakdown.”
There are countless reasons why Americans challenge abortion, but they all point to one truth: the inherent dignity and worth of every person, from the moment of conception.
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