[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZskPSDg-Np4&w=560&h=315]
Everyday thousands of unborn humans are killed through abortion. They will never meet their mother. And they will never get the chance to tell the abortionist who killed them that he is forgiven. It isn’t every day that a person survives an attempt on her life, but surviving an abortion isn’t as uncommon or impossible as people think.
People who survive abortion are often full of questions and pain. Knowing that their own mother tried to have them killed is a heavy weight to carry throughout their lives. And knowing that the person who tried to kill them is probably out there killing other children on daily basis just adds to that pain. That’s why one abortion survivor took matters into her own hands, tracking down the abortionist who tried to kill her, and telling him exactly how she feels.
Claire Culwell is a young mom, living life to the fullest and enjoying each day she is given. She isn’t unlike any other young mother is this way. But her life started out with a huge fight. When Culwell’s biological mother discovered she was pregnant at age 13, she went to an abortion clinic. She was told the abortion was successful and her baby was gone, but what she and no one else realized, was that she was pregnant with twins. The abortionist had succeeded in killing Culwell’s twin brother but he had missed Culwell. Culwell was born just a couple of weeks later, premature and frail. She was placed for adoption, fought for her life, and endured physical therapy to adjust her hips, legs and feet.
Recently, Culwell learned that the doctor who had killed her twin was facing numerous charges including dumping and burning aborted babies in a field, raping and sodomizing patients, as well as malpractice suits for abortions that went “wrong”. His name is Dr. Nareshkumar “Naresh” Patel. In April she wrote him a letter to which he has yet to respond. Culwell wrote:
In 1988, my 13-year-old birth mother placed herself in your care to perform her abortion… her 20-week abortion. She was assured that the abortion would fix her problem and that her life would return to normal, but it didn’t. When she returned to see you, she was informed that the abortion had been successful, in part, but she was still pregnant as she had actually been pregnant with twins but had been misinformed. She was also told that during the abortion the amniotic sac had been ruptured, thus leaking fluid for weeks. This proposed many complications for my birth mother. Due to the botched abortion, I was born 2.5 months premature with many lifelong complications.
Culwell goes on to tell Dr. Patel about her physical hardships, about her birth mother’s emotional pain and regret and the hundreds of other abortion survivors who are also speaking out against abortion. Then she talks about the brother she lost on the day of the abortion.
I spent 21 years of my life wondering if I had a sibling that was missing. I felt it in my heart. My birth mother confirmed my questions when she told me about her abortion when I met her. Realizing that you have lived your entire life without your twin is a harsh reality. However, the hardest part for me is realizing that you took my daddy’s only son from him. His life would have been even more full and joyful had he had his son who would carry on his family name and do the things he loves with him – hunt and fish. Because of the selfishness that abortion has brought to us today, our family will remain incomplete and I mourn the amazing adventures my daddy is missing with my brother.
Then Culwell speaks of her daughter, who wouldn’t exist if the attempt on Culwell’s life had been successful. She talks about how abortion isn’t just something that effects the woman who is having the abortion, but it alters entire families, generations, and communities. Then Culwell does something that no one, especially Dr. Patel, was expecting. She offers him her forgiveness.
Dr. Patel, I write not only to shed light on the reality of the severe aftermath that can happen when abortions are performed, but to also express my forgiveness to you for what happened. I have lived a full life and been well loved in my 26 years of life despite my circumstances. […] In the same way I have been forgiven by God for many things, I choose to forgive you. I forgive you for performing the abortion in 1988 and for the enormous impact it has had on my birth mother and me.
Culwell finishes her heartfelt letter by telling Dr. Patel that she will be praying for him. She prays that he will remember her face when he is going to perform an abortion. And she tells him that should he leave the abortion industry, many people would be there to support him.
Forgiveness and prayer – two things no one would ever expect anyone to offer to the person who tried to kill them and who possibly raped her teenage birth mother. Culwell offers these gifts to Dr. Patel and these gifts have the potential to change the abortion industry forever. If we can forgive abortionists and help them leave the industry, then abortion will end. No abortionists, no abortion. If you haven’t already, join Culwell in her forgiveness and pray for all abortion providers.
