For a young Elizabeth Harris, life was out of control. She had been living for about two years with a newly divorced man who was abusive and was grappling with seemingly insurmountable challenges. She felt as if she was adrift on a roiling sea of uncertainty. Living far away from family with no support system made her circumstances more unbearable. Harris felt driven to take drastic action to relieve her pain.
Harris told Live Action News, “My life was a mess, so I attempted to commit suicide and was admitted to the hospital for about a week. When I got out of the hospital, I reunited with my boyfriend and shortly thereafter, I was shocked to discover that I was pregnant.”
While Harris’s boyfriend appeared unemotional when she told him about the unplanned pregnancy, Harris was excited. She yearned for a family, having come from a divorced household. Harris sensed her partner was uncomfortable and knew he wanted to keep her pregnancy a secret.
“He wanted me to hide my pregnancy because he was not ready to tell his ex-wife and two children that I was pregnant,” Harris said. “He was a very secretive and dishonest person in general, and he came from a very prominent family in the local community.”
Motherhood provides strength to leave abusive relationship
During this time, her partner’s abuse escalated, and his cruelty was breathtaking. One day he told her he was going to hire someone to jump her and beat her until she miscarried. In fear, she fled across the country to stay with her mother and stepfather.
Harris said, “I remember being on a Greyhound bus with just $20 in my pocket. I was in such a desperate situation. I was terrified of him, though I still loved him. My self-worth was so low, and I had lost touch with my authentic self.”
Yet Harris would return to her boyfriend only to run away again. Her second trip home resulted in the birth of her daughter with her mother standing alongside her. For Harris, childbirth was a “beautiful and empowering” experience, one which would inspire her to later become a doula.
“I immediately bonded with my daughter, and I loved being a mother,” Harris said. “I felt as if I had value again.”
Once again, Harris reunited with her boyfriend but after a couple of years of continued abuse, Harris finally closed the door on the relationship for good.
Harris said, “It was a scary time, but I had to defend my daughter. I didn’t want her growing up in a toxic household. She gave me the strength to leave and never look back.”
A journey to pro-life advocacy
Trying to reclaim her identity and regain normalcy, Harris enrolled in nursing school. She was raising her daughter alone with the help of her mother and stepdad, trying to heal from the wounds of her past. She converted to Catholicism which eventually led her to become pro-life.
“I had always been pro-choice, having been a client of Planned Parenthood for years,” Harris said. “I got my birth control and STD testing there but once I found out that birth control was an ‘abortifacient’ drug, I found a pro-life doctor and never visited Planned Parenthood again. For me, that was a huge turning point.”
Her newly found faith opened her eyes to the deceitful messages Planned Parenthood promoted along with birth control: that it’s freeing to have sexual relationships without strings or responsibility. She had once asked a Planned Parenthood nurse if the birth control pill causes an abortion; the nurse denied it did.
Harris said, “Planned Parenthood doesn’t recognize that life begins at fertilization. At best, they adhere to the fallacy that life begins when the egg is implanted in the uterus. But as a nurse, I now know that birth control pills thin the lining of the uterus and if ovulation and fertilization occur, the egg can be lost as an early miscarriage.”
A career with Sidewalk Advocates for Life
Through her church, Harris was connected to a sidewalk counselor and joined her congregation at Planned Parenthood to pray. She traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend a March for Life.
As she continued her pro-life journey, she recalled a conversation she had with her ex-partner when she asked him why his ex-wife hadn’t chosen abortion when she got pregnant at such a young age. He had responded that he would have then missed having his two sons.
Harris said, “That response smacked me in the face. I started to realize that’s a life in the womb. I think that was the seed that ultimately blossomed into the pro-life stance I have today. I could have been tempted to consider abortion when I was pregnant had I not wanted a family so badly.”
With a newfound heart for ministry, Harris returned to school and attained a bachelor’s degree. Throughout her nursing career, she had faced numerous moral conflicts and wanted to find a job where she could be free to stay true to her faith and pro-life philosophy.
While searching, she came across a part-time position at Sidewalk Advocates for Life offering 15 hours per week. Wondering how she could support her daughter on such a small salary, she nonetheless took a leap of faith. She now serves as the Senior Regional Program Manager.
“God plucked me up and put me here,” Harris said. “It has grown into a full-time niche position. I’m living my calling, and I love my job. I have the utmost respect with the people I work with.”
For the pro-life movement, there is much opportunity in a post-Roe America, Harris points out, starting with examining the circumstances that lead to abortion and working at adequately addressing these issues. Equally important is collaborating in creating and strengthening innovative, comprehensive, life-affirming networks across the country that support women and nourish and empower all families as the fabric of society.
Harris believes “[w]e must recognize a vital component in impacting culture is through shifting women’s health care to be more life-affirming and wholistic to foster authentic feminism where women can flourish being the uniquely created individuals that they are.”
