Confused, Afraid, and Ashamed

She was 16, confused, afraid, and ashamed. She hadn't gotten her period for several months, when she walked into our Crisis Pregnancy Center in the South Bronx. She had scheduled an abortion for that morning. She was on her way into her appointment, when she spoke to Laura on the sidewalk outside of the Abortion Clinic. Laura told her that we could help, and took the bus with her all the way to our office.

As I filled out the intake form it all started to come out. She had grown up without a father, the child of a single mother in the ghettos of New York City. But unlike a lot of other girls in the same situation, her older brother had become her father figure. No one ever told her to save sex for marriage, what they instead told her was to just wait until she was 18. There was a very high chance that she was pregnant, and the thought of her mom and brother finding out that she was sexually active at 16, was one that brought fear and shame to her heart. What would they think of her? She couldn't bear the idea that she might dissappoint them.

Well she took a pregnancy test and it was positive. She was pregnant.

I asked her how that made her feel and what her boyfriend wanted her to do. And of course her mom and brother, what would their reactions be? These were the things flying through her mind and aching to get out! These were the most important questions at this moment in her short life! As it turns out, her boyfriend wanted to parent. Her mother is Pro-life, and her brother had recently told her to never be ashamed to tell him anything and to never do anything that she would be ashamed of.

I told her about the various risks and complications of the surgery and showed her a video of what abortion acctually is, and what it does to the woman and child. Education coupled with the hope of familial support, and she began to weigh the decisions. Embarressment and shame of her families knoweledge of her sexual activity versus her health and safety, and the life of her child. She chose LIFE! Less than a week later we spoke of her Ultrasound results on the phone, she is 5 months pregnant and having a girl! She is very excited!