Abuse victims often use the phrase "Silent No More" to indicate their
response to being victimized. It may be surprising to some in our society,
therefore, that as our nation reaches the 30-year mark of the abortion decisions
Roe vs. Wade and Doe vs. Bolton, that women from coast to coast are
uniting under the banner of "Silent No More" because they have had abortions.
Not illegal ones in "back alleys" -- which is more propaganda than reality --
but legal ones in federally protected "clinics."
These women do not consider themselves freed, empowered, or ennobled because
of their abortion. Rather, they testify that they were enslaved, weakened, and
wounded. They were, in short, given a false promise, which is the essence of all
temptation. They were told that this "procedure" would solve their problems.
Instead, it brought more problems than they care to think about, namely, the
whole range of physical and psychological wounds often described by the term
"post-abortion syndrome."
What are these women doing this year that is different from what they have
done over the past 30 years?
In our nation's Capitol and in cities across the country, they will gather
publicly at rallies and prayer events and hold signs that say, "I Regret My
Abortion." The Washington, DC gathering will, in fact, be at the steps of the
Supreme Court, on the very date, January 22, that abortion was legalized 30
years ago.
This campaign is being sponsored by Anglicans for Life and Priests for Life.
But why do this? If abortion is so painful, some will ask, why make a public
display out of one's experience?
The answer is understood only if one knows how shameful and painful the
silence of abortion is. The grief that follows abortion is, in the words of Dr.
Theresa Burke, a "forbidden grief." The grief is not acknowledged; it is
not validated. People don't send sympathy cards or talk about it openly. In
fact, those who grieve their child killed by abortion are often made to feel
silly for feeling sad. After all, they are told by society that they exercised a
choice that solved a problem. Why grieve over that?
Such questions, of course, reveal a complete blindness to the fact that
killing one's child hurts, and leaves a wound that Mom does not ever
forget.
These women are tired of having pro-choice advocates pretend to speak for
them. They want to tell the world, in their own words, that what is too easily
celebrated as a "choice" and a "right" is in fact a painful burden.
Not every post-abortive woman has found enough healing to be able to
participate in these public rallies or hold these signs. But the participants in
Silent No More pray that their presence will assist their sisters on the
road to healing, and give them some measure of comfort to know that their grief
is no longer forbidden.
