Victoria was a single mother with two little girls, working two jobs to make ends meet when she met someone and “fell madly in love.” Nine months into the relationship, she was pregnant.
“I was terrified. I was mad at myself,” she said. “How could I have let this happen?” Though she was scared, she thought that everything would be okay because she and her boyfriend had talked about getting married and starting a family one day. However, when she told him she was pregnant, he immediately started encouraging abortion:
“He said we weren’t ready, he told me and reminded me, ‘You can barely take care of the two little girls you have now, how are you going to be able to do this?'”
Terrified, Victoria called the abortion facility and spoke to a woman named Helena. Victoria poured her heart out to Helena, telling her of her husband leaving, and her devastated two little girls. Helena told her, “Honey, you’d be really selfish as a mother to bring another mouth to feed when you can barely take care of the two you have. So you know what the best choice for you is. And we can take care of it right away.”
Victoria made the abortion appointment but said that the whole way to the appointment she had her hand on her stomach, begging her baby for forgiveness. Though she was crying when she got to the appointment, Helena reminded her that abortion was best for her family, and said, “Do you think our government would allow this to be legal if it could harm you in any way?”
Victoria said she also vividly remembers one of the last things Helena said to her: “When you leave here, never think of this again.”
Instead, Victoria said, “When I left that abortion clinic that day, I knew I was never going to be the same… My abortion almost destroyed me. It robbed me of so much joy for so long.”
Victoria didn’t tell anyone about her abortion for over 10 years because she was so ashamed and embarrassed. “I was a coward,” she said. “I allowed strangers to kill my baby.”
After 10 years, Victoria met a pregnancy center director who arranged for her to have abortion recovery counseling — an experience Victoria says changed her life.
“I will never forget the mistake of abortion,” she explained. “But today, I make sure and tell anyone who will listen about the truth, about what an abortion is. It not only destroys the unborn, but it destroys that unborn child’s parents as well.”
