Just two days before marrying her fiancé, 18-year-old Mary Browning discovered she was pregnant. She did not expect to be facing an unplanned pregnancy prior to her wedding — nor was she prepared for his response.
“He told me to get an abortion. He even made the appointment,” Browning told Live Action News. “We had to cut our honeymoon short so I could terminate my pregnancy.”
She didn’t receive an examination prior to the surgery; she was just told to put her feet into the stirrups so the doctor could perform the procedure that would end the life of her first child.
“I don’t remember much of that day,” Browning said. “I disassociated myself from what was happening. I wasn’t in my body; I could see myself from the ceiling and the doctor and nurse.”
Afterward, the doctor scolded her for being so far along in her pregnancy. “I did not know I was 16 weeks pregnant. I never even noticed that I had missed my periods,” Browning said. “My mother had scheduled a gynecological exam before my wedding and that’s when I first found out. I kept it hidden from my parents though I suspected my mother might have known but never confronted me.”
To cope with the emotions swirling around the abortion she never wanted, Browning kept telling herself the lies often heard from the abortion industry: it was just tissue, not a baby that was growing in her womb. “It was easier to accept that lie than to face the truth,” Browning said. “I didn’t have a good relationship with my mother so I couldn’t confide in her.”
While Browning and her husband eventually became parents to two daughters, she endured years of his abuse. “My husband was an alcoholic, and I was the good Catholic girl who had to make the marriage work,” she said.
When her husband began hitting her one day, she fled to her bedroom and locked the door. “I knew he had a hunting gun in the garage he was thinking of using to kill me,” Browning said. “God gave me the courage to call someone to come get me that day.”
But she went back to him after the incident, caving in to pressure from her parents to do so. During the marriage, she had the fortitude to earn her college degree and enroll in law school with the goal of representing abused and neglected children.
A healing retreat led her to fight the pro-abortion industry on the legal front
Nine years after her abortion, she told a man she worked with about her abortion. It was the first time she broke her silence.
Browning said, “His girlfriend also had an abortion, and he was concerned that she would never be able to bear children.”
In time, Browning sought help to heal the wounds that were festering since her abortion. “It was at a retreat that God revealed to me that my baby had been a boy, and his name was Rafael,” she said. “The name ‘Rapha’ epitomizes God’s healing. The process of healing allowed me to face the grief and profound loss of my baby and to mourn for what he could have accomplished in the world.”
Browning believed God gave her a vision of a four-year-old Rafael, with the Lord telling her that he and “Raffi” were discussing what his life is going to mean. “I took that to signify what am I going to do next that would give honor to my baby’s life,” Browning said.
Not long after, a pro-life friend connected Browning to Allan Parker, founder of the Justice Foundation. She began writing briefs on a volunteer basis as a legal advisor for the organization. One of those was in rebuttal to a group of lawyers who had filed a brief stating that their abortions helped their careers.
“These female attorneys felt that women needed to have access to abortions in order to compete in the workplace,” Browning said. “I was the mother of two children and in an abusive relationship when I was working toward my education and knew this wasn’t true.”
She continued to volunteer and attended the 2020 March for Life. She transitioned to working part-time for Operation Outcry, a ministry of the Justice Foundation, with a mission to amplify the voices of men and women harmed by abortion and to offer resources for hope and healing. Browning began meeting women who also had abortions and regretted them.
Browning said, “Women everywhere are coming forward to speak out against abortion. We are using their painful testimonies in legal briefs to illustrate the devastating impact of abortion and to fight against the pro-abortion industry.” One of her most notable briefs was drafted in support of the recent lawsuit against the abortion pill argued before the Supreme Court.
Helping both men and women find healing from abortion
As a professional woman who grappled with subsequent abusive relationships after her first marriage ended, Browning also recognized how challenging it is for post-abortive women to establish healthy romantic relationships.
“And because so many women are ashamed to admit they have had surgical abortions when discussing their medical histories with their physicians, statistics are skewed, so women aren’t getting accurate information about the harm abortion causes physically and mentally,” Browning said.
Operation Outcry is launching a new campaign, partnering with churches to encourage both men and women to share their testimonies in an environment that promotes healing and forgiveness.
“Abortion also affects men,” Browning said. “So, it’s important for men to come forward. They are not always in touch with their feelings, and they need to have a platform to tell their stories. It is time to step out of the shadows of shame without fear of judgment and we believe it starts in the churches.”
Browning notes that April is Abortion Recovery month and invites those affected by abortion to examine their hearts and seek healing through weekend retreats or online workshops.
Browning said, “I am thankful for the mercy of God and am living a redemptive life. I no longer believe the secret is safer than the truth.”
