In the latest video of Live Action’s Can’t Stay Silent series telling stories of abortion regret, Serena speaks about her experience getting an abortion at just 13 years old after she was raped by an uncle. Despite the circumstances, abortion did not erase the trauma of the sexual assault — instead, it tore apart her family and had a lasting impact on her life.
Though Serena initially hid the abuse, her parents eventually learned what was going on. They brought her to a doctor, who confirmed pregnancy. Serena’s mother then decided to take her for an abortion. “I was very uneducated,” Serena says. “I had no clue. And my mom really thought that abortion was going to be the thing that helped.”
After being brought to the abortion facility, Serena was separated from her parents and told that her baby was nothing more than a clump of cells. “Still at this point, I had no idea what abortion was. I thought that we were at a regular doctor’s office, and I thought they were going to help us, but I wasn’t sure what help that was.”
Though she was unaware what was going to happen, she consented to the abortion. “I can tell you that I have given birth to two children without medication, and the abortion was the most painful thing that I have ever experienced in my life. I remember just screaming in pain, and [the abortionist] just looking at me and telling me to shut up,” she said.
After the abortion, Serena was heavily hemorrhaging, but she wasn’t given any care. Instead, her father had to carry her out of the building.
Rather than provide the healing she needed, the abortion ended up tearing apart her family.
“My parents thought that they were doing the best thing on that day, but really what happened is my mom ended up having a mental breakdown and she ended up being checked into a mental hospital for two weeks. My dad eventually left our family and I turned to drinking at a young age.”
Serena also says she turned to premarital sex and ended up getting pregnant again at age 16. After visiting Planned Parenthood, she and her boyfriend, who is now her husband, decided instead to choose life. However, the scars of that early abortion remained. She says, “Unfortunately the abortion wound followed us through our married life and really almost cost us everything.”
Serena has now found healing and freedom through Jesus. She named her aborted daughter Elianna Grace and wants to bring her the dignity she deserves.
She ends by confirming that abortion is never an answer for rape. “Abortion never undoes the trauma of sexual assault… I am so thankful for abortion recovery, but abortion never undid my trauma.”
