Michelle Hurford grew up in a loving household, dutifully going to church services with her mother. But she ran with a rough crowd, indulging in drinking, partying, drugs, and casual sexual encounters. She was just 16 when she became pregnant.
Hurford told Live Action News, “I was shocked to find out I was pregnant and had no idea who the father was or what I was going to do.”
She called her mother in a panic from a pay phone at school. A short time later, Hurford’s brother arrived to bring the anxious teen home. When Hurford revealed why she was distraught, her mother wanted to know who the man was who had impregnated her and what she wanted to do.
“I watched a girlfriend face an unplanned pregnancy and have an abortion,” Hurford said. “Back then, it was a way to get out of the situation so I, too, thought of abortion as means to ‘fix’ a ‘problem,’ not understanding it was killing a child.”
Concerned an unplanned pregnancy might cause dishonor to the family, Hurford’s parents agreed she must end the pregnancy.
Hurford said, “At the time, we were Christians in name only, not really practicing our faith. We were more worried about what people would think.”
On the day of her abortion, Hurford was confident she’d breeze through the surgery, furthered reassured by staff who told her not to worry; it was a simple, brief procedure.
“I was such a ‘know-it-all’ at that age, thinking it would all be over in a matter of minutes,” Hurford said. “But hearing the suction machine tear my baby out of my womb was terrifying. Then, unceremoniously I was pushed into a hallway with a half-dozen other women, wondering what just happened to me. I felt like herded cattle.”
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Like a turtle retracting into its shell to hide from the world, Hurford holed up in her bedroom for four days, grappling with the horror of what she had done.
Hurford said, “I didn’t want to discuss my abortion with anyone. I just bottled up my emotions and tried to move on. You just didn’t talk about it; you kept it hidden. My parents were shattered, appealing to God for forgiveness for their part in my decision.”
A second pregnancy
Two years after her abortion, Hurford married. When she became pregnant, it should have been a joyful event, but Hurford struggled as she was still suffering from the buried trauma of the abortion.
“I was so scared that I called my mother sobbing,” Hurford said. “She reassured me that pregnancy within marriage is normal and helped me understand I was capable of being a good mother, despite my doubts.”
Still, the circumstances around Hurford’s first pregnancy haunted her, and she was unable to stop thinking about the baby she hadn’t wanted. She questioned God if she would ever see her child. As if in answer, one night a vivid dream came to her. Walking across a field, she could see two figures underneath a tree. She recognized the taller person as Jesus standing alongside a young boy about eight years old with brown hair and bright blue eyes. The child smiled at her.
Hurford said, “As I drew close, Jesus laid his hand on my shoulder and told me that my child was with Him. I woke up in such peace, knowing my baby was in the best place. Eight years had passed before I was able to move on and forgive myself.”
A state constitutional amendment ends years of silence
Now the mother of two sons, and a grandmother as well, Hurford was ultimately able to heal from the shame and grief through God’s grace. Yet she remained silent, unwilling to publicly share her testimony to avoid reviving the heartache her parents had suffered.
“My father especially was the rock in our family, and I didn’t want to hurt him again by dredging up the past,” Hurford said. “But then, in the fall of 2023, a constitutional amendment was on the ballot in Ohio, which, if passed, would enshrine the right to abortion expanding access through nine months of pregnancy. I was compelled to speak out to prevent more innocent preborn babies from dying.”
As the women of her church gathered to host a baby shower for the Alliance Pregnancy Support Center, Hurford bravely stood before them and confessed, for the first time, the sins of a reckless 16-year-old girl who paid the ultimate price – the loss of a precious child. By laying bare the ugliest part of her past, detailing the sickening sounds of the suction aspiration machine and the sharp crunch of the skull bone breaking as her baby perished, Hurford hoped to illustrate grahically the darkness and devastation of abortion. She wanted her fellow parishioners to look at the face of a woman who worshipped with them and had ended a pregnancy. She wanted them to feel her shame and heartache.
Hurford said, “Many women don’t really know how damaging abortion is. They think it’s a woman’s right to ‘fix’ a ‘problem’ but abortion is never for the good of women; it robs you of everything. It was not God’s intention that I take the life of my child, but he can use my pain to help others.”
She has since enrolled in spiritual mentorship training at the Alliance Pregnancy Support Center. The program connects Christ’s followers with families who don’t have the resources or knowledge to seek out spiritual guidance on their own. Hurford noted that for many women facing unplanned pregnancies, it is a time of angst and uncertainty.
“I hope to offer peace, love, and support during a time of confusion and instability,” Hurford said. “No child is ever an accident. The circumstances surrounding pregnancy may not be ideal but there’s a reason this child has been given life, God has a plan for that baby. As a spiritual mentor, I hope to honor Christ and to lead others to His love and grace.”
