A young woman in her mid-twenties, Shanna Cates felt she had found her soulmate — someone with whom she had a connection. The couple had been friends initially, and the friendship had blossomed into a romance. They had been together for a short time when Cates learned she was pregnant.
Cates told Live Action News, “It was scary and exciting at the same time. I had been a life-long Christian and was concerned about what my church family would think. When I told my boyfriend, he went crazy and denied he was the father of our child.”
Inebriated from consuming a bottle of vodka, Cates’ boyfriend was uncontrollable after hearing the news of her pregnancy.
“I finally had to throw him out,” Cates said. “He traveled for his job, so I didn’t see him for a while after that.”
He had made it clear he wanted nothing to do with the child, and pressured her to have an abortion for which he would gladly pay. Uncertain about what to do, Cates talked with a close friend, who encouraged her to end the pregnancy.
Cates said, “I scheduled an appointment with my gynecologist who referred me to another doctor for the abortion. She, too, assured me I was doing the right thing and that I was still young enough to have children in the future.”
Cates estimated she was around six to eight weeks gestation when she went in for the abortion. Inside the cold and dark clinic, she remembers hearing the sickening sound of the suction machine.
“Right away I knew what I had done,” Cates said.
At home, she cried and cuddled with her dog trying to find some relief from the anguish of ending her pregnancy.
Cates said, “My girlfriend who took me to the clinic came by and brought me flowers, but they were of little consolation as she aided me in getting the abortion.”
Her parents were divorced, so while her mother knew about the abortion, she was reluctant to tell her father who would have been hurt by the revelation.
“My mother refused to talk about it,” Cates said. “I sensed she didn’t want to deal with her own emotions around abortion.”
Manipulation leads to second abortion
Despite being abandoned and controlled by her boyfriend, Cates continued to see him.
Cates said, “I thought I could change him and was determined to make him love me. We connected on so many levels.”
When she became pregnant a second time, he stepped up his game of manipulation.
“He got hysterical and claimed he would commit suicide if I didn’t have an abortion,” Cates said. “There was just so much trauma that I realized I needed to let go of such a destructive relationship. I just wanted him away from me.”
Yet she still had the abortion and paid for it herself.
Though she has little memory of that day, the second abortion further damaged her soul. To cope, she buried her pain deep inside and began living a careless lifestyle.
Cates said, “I had no respect for my own well-being. I was very vulnerable during this time, but I was still attending church and praying desperately for healing.”
Seeing parents with their children triggered her into further suppressing the abortions. It was too painful to face the fact that she had willingly allowed herself to be pressured into ending her pregnancies, denying herself the chance at motherhood.
Father’s death prompts desire for healing and a new path forward
“When my dad passed away, it was a turning point,” Cates said. “At a Celebrate Recovery meeting I met someone who had an abortion and she mentioned attending a Forgiven and Set Free healing program. I enrolled as well and that’s when the healing process began.”
Repentance gave her the freedom to move forward and to find closure by dedicating a memorial in honor of her two children, Benjamin and Grace, whom she would never know.
Cates said, “I was even able to pick out songs and little baby clothes.”
While she may not have understood it then, God was guiding her in accordance with His plan.
“One night I had a dream about being at what seemed to be a Congressional hearing and I heard God tell me to use my name,” Cates said.
At church one morning, Cates saw Allan Parker, President of the Justice Foundation who was the lead counsel for Norma McCorvey (Roe v. Wade) and Sandra Cano (Doe v. Bolton). She remembered seeing the pastor pray over him at a previous worship service. Parker had established the Operation Outcry ministry to rally women wounded by abortion to share their stories of devastation as witnesses to the courts and legislature.
Cates said, “I went up to Allan and spoke with him. He asked if he could use my name in an affidavit and I agreed. He got me connected with women who had pro-life ministries. I wanted to help other women get healed and God had opened that door.”
She later traveled to Israel, where she felt God leading her to become more bold in sharing her testimony. Allan Parker urged her to start sharing her testimony at churches.
In January 2024, she attended her first March for Life in Washington, D.C., with another woman. While there, she was interviewed by CBN, expressing remorse for her two abortions and talking about her desire to see other post-abortive women be freed from the albatross of secret shame.
As part of the Operation Outcry group, Cates is surrounded by a tightly knit network of dedicated women, who like her, seek to expose the harmful effects of abortion on women from all socioeconomic backgrounds through sharing their post-abortive testimonies to being involved in the legislative process.
Despite having a job that involves a good deal of traveling at times, being active in the fight against abortion is of utmost importance to Cates.
“I have a desire to do more,” Cates said. “It really troubles me that our taxpayer money is funding abortions, and I would like to help change that. I believe the Lord is urging me to be bold. I see him working in so many ways. I stand ready to serve in whatever way the Lord calls me.”
