Cassaundra Baber was an 18-year-old college student when she encountered a predator during an evening at a nightclub with friends from her dormitory. To a bystander, she looked to be young and innocent with a page-boy haircut framing her face, standing alone, separated from her friends, wondering what to do. One man took advantage of that innocence to rape her.
Baber told Live Action, “That’s when a man came up to me and told me he’d help me find my friends. But he kept moving me along, like he knew what he was doing. Soon, he led me outside and that’s when I began to feel afraid. He steered me to an alley, and it was then, I knew I wasn’t getting out of there.”
It was then that the man sexually assaulted her.
“He was so clever, he knew I was unworldly,” Baber said. “I couldn’t quite process what had happened to me. He tried to pretend he cared about me.”
When Baber’s friends found her, they were upset, thinking she had snuck off with a man she just met. But the rapist whispered in Baber’s ear that she hadn’t done anything wrong.
Baber said, “When I got home, I scrubbed my body, pushing away from my mind the trauma. Everything was so confusing at the time. I just didn’t realize I had been violated.”
But the perpetrator wasn’t finished tormenting her. He found her phone number and left “creepy” messages on her answering machine.
“I finally called him back and told him I had a boyfriend, to leave me alone,” Baber said.
Six weeks later, Baber discovered she was pregnant, a stark reminder of the assault. While she was elated to become a mother because she loved children, she was also frightened about the uncertainty of her future. Her friends and school counselors urged her to get an abortion.
Baber said, “I was at a private school where most of the students were wealthy. I was told I was ‘too poor and too smart’ to let an unplanned pregnancy ruin my life.”
Yet Baber knew abortion for what it was: the intentional killing of preborn children. Her grandmother had been active in the pro-life movement and Baber had been raised in a devout Catholic home, both influences that had shaped her attitude about abortion.
“My grandmother volunteered at Birthright and brought home models of preborn babies,” Baber said. “She showed me the film, ‘The Silent Scream’ which was very powerful. I also had a determined personality and that helped me withstand pressure to terminate my pregnancy.”
While her parents were divorced, they were supportive, especially Baber’s father.
Baber said, “I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I was very motivated to do well for my son and to prove to the world that I could succeed as a teen mom.”
Inspired by her child
Armed with tenacity and dedication, Baber excelled academically in school through pregnancy and after her son was born.
“I was studying journalism and would take my son to the newsroom with me,” Baber said. “I figured I had a right to be there with my baby and I found nobody cared that I did. The abortion industry wants women to believe they will not have support to thrive as single mothers. I’m living proof that’s a lie.”
READ: These rape survivors and their children are ‘exceptions’ to pro-life laws, and deserve to be heard
Yet Baber did have challenging days working, attending class, and caring for a baby. Her faith was instrumental in getting her through those days. She looked to Mother Mary as a source of inspiration, a woman who suffered much but who silently persevered through difficult times.
Baber said, “I sacrificed to ensure my son was brought up in a healthy environment. I dated but didn’t feel safe bringing a man into my home while raising my son.”
Still, Baber grappled with the unhealed wounds festering inside her. It wasn’t until her son went to college that she found the healing that had eluded her for so many years.
“During a time, I was dealing with promiscuity, addiction, and nightmares,” Baber said. “I kept going to Mass seeking understanding of what I had been through. I joined women’s groups, trying to talk about my struggles, but felt ostracized. Nobody could relate to my story and didn’t know how to help me.”
It was as if she was adrift in a sea of confusion with no lifeline in sight. She learned to spend time with Jesus, praying for guidance and restoration.
While at an “Unbound” conference, a woman approached Baber and told her Jesus was going to heal her.
Baber said, “I went through seven years of deliverance and inner healing. For the first time, I faced what had happened to me. I was eventually diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome.”
A new mission
Going through her journey prompted Baber to give up her successful career as a journalist to share her story with others.
She founded Momdacity, a pro-life movement empowering women with the audacity to mother in an anti-mom world.
“Momdacity came about almost as a sarcastic slap to the pro-abortion movement’s underhanded claim that motherhood is such a dooming experience,” Baber said.
For Baber, there is much more to do. She is currently working toward a master’s degree in psychology and plans to launch a ministry, “Make Her Known,” to offer online coaching and group sessions.
Baber said, “I’m coming into a new chapter in my life. I promised God I would do whatever he asked. I want others who are dealing with unresolved pain to learn how to move forward and fully embrace life again.”
She maintains a close relationship with her son who is now an engineer living in New York City.
“Dakota was always aware of the circumstances surrounding his conception,” Baber said. “He grew to be a beautiful, loving, caring person who’s very inventive and intelligent. I am proud of the person he’s become. I have never regretted for one moment having my son.”
She finds it abhorrent how the abortion industry leverages the trauma of rape to convince women to abort their babies as if these babies were the source of their suffering.
Baber said, “It’s vile to use experiences like mine to justify murdering children like my son. I will not sit down and be silent about the atrocities of abortion. We must continue our fight to further pro-life principles.”
