Nichole Bryson was just 16 years old when she fell in love with a boy who didn’t love her back. Yet, though he never pressured her to do so, she became intimate with him. Bryson told Live Action News, “I had lived a sheltered life and was innocent and naïve. He was my first love and I wanted to keep his interest. But then, I got pregnant, and everything changed.”
When a test at a local pregnancy support center confirmed her pregnancy, she called her boyfriend to tell him.
“He insisted I have an abortion,” Bryson said. “I was so upset, I refused and hung up on him.”
Yet, Bryson was concerned about what everyone around her would think when her pregnancy became visible.
Bryson said, “It would be obvious that I had sex without being married. I would be embarrassed and concerned if I had disappointed my family. I was tempted to have the abortion but didn’t want to have it. The inner struggle that was playing out inside my head was exhausting and confusing.”
She decided to tell the news to those closest to her and many offered help and support.
“My dad was living in Texas at the time, and he told me I could come live with him,” Bryson said. “So, I withdrew from school and said goodbye to my friends.”
By the following week, though, Bryson was back in school, having changed her mind about relocating to Texas. Then, a woman from Bryson’s church told her she knew of a Christian family who would adopt her baby, but Bryson told her she could never give up her baby.
Bryson said, “My church family had been very supportive. They took me to an OB/GYN appointment and tried so hard to be helpful. I think I knew I would get the abortion to keep my boyfriend happy because I loved him so much.”
Desperate to please her boyfriend she chose abortion
She called her boyfriend, telling him of her decision to have the abortion. He asked if she was certain and offered to pay for the abortion. When she made the appointment, she was told for an extra $75.00 she could get a sedative, but she was reluctant to ask her boyfriend for more money.
“The staff member then told me they would just cover the cost,” Bryson said. “For me, that clinched the deal.”
On the day of her appointment, her pastor’s wife planned to pull her out of school for a visit to the pregnancy support center, but it was too late.
Bryson was already on her way to New York with her boyfriend where parental approval wasn’t required. During that trip Bryson’s boyfriend made two overtures she thought might have meant he changed his mind about the abortion.
Bryson said, “When I lit up a cigarette, he admonished me saying smoking wasn’t good for the baby, Then, while staying at the hotel the night before, he touched my belly and declared he could feel the baby’s movements. I was skeptical, being only six weeks along.”
Fervently hoping for some type of intervention to keep her from ending her pregnancy, she thought perhaps she’d be intercepted by a sidewalk counselor who would make a passionate plea to her. But a lone woman stood outside the abortion facility and, according to Bryson, made a half-hearted attempt to talk to her.
“All she said was ‘you don’t have to do this,’ but it wasn’t enough to change my mind,” Bryson said.
Since she was underage, Bryson thought she might be turned away, yet she wasn’t.
Bryson said, “When I filled out the paperwork, I noticed a disclaimer stating I might not be able to have children after this procedure. I was so conflicted but went ahead anyway.”
During the five-hour wait, she went in and out of exam rooms for various reasons and each time, Bryson’s boyfriend asked if the abortion had been done.
“I was tempted to tell him ‘Yes,’ and just leave,” Bryson said. Then, I got the idea to pretend I was going to get something from the car, but the receptionist stopped me from leaving the building.”
Her request to see her baby during the sonogram was refused. In the counseling session, she was shown a brief clip about the procedure where her baby was referred to as only a “fetus,” and “embryo.”
Bryson said, “I asked if ‘fetus’ meant the same as ‘baby’ and was told no. I then asked what would I tell my family and friends about the procedure and was advised that it was an ‘induced miscarriage’ to remove ‘excess tissue’ from the uterus.”
As she was prepped for surgery, Bryson was pinned down by four people. She instinctively knew she didn’t want to have the abortion and screamed at the abortionist that she had changed her mind. He admonished her to be quiet, threatening she might otherwise get hurt. Within minutes, it was over.
Healing the wounds of abortion
Bryson said, “I was forever changed. The decision that was supposed to be the easy way out, that was supposed to make my life better, only made it worse. Deep down, you realize you’re taking a life but trying to justify it. The pain and emptiness that comes from the abortion lasts a lifetime.”
In the years following, she re-connected with her faith, gave birth to two daughters, eventually married, and suffered a miscarriage. She currently works at a Pennsylvania pregnancy support center and serves on a Deeper Still team in the northeast Ohio region.
“Real healing from my abortion did not come until I let God back into my life,” Bryson said. “From my Heavenly Father, I experienced not only forgiveness, but true joy, peace, and love. Now, I have a purpose to help woman make life-affirming choices and administer to those suffering from the agony of abortion.”
