Telling the Story of How Abortion Affected My Family – Opinion

The one thing the left did very well, up until recently is to use storytelling as a means to reach people and convince them of their cause. They’re still scarily effective using that technique, but as their stories have become more and more wacky, their stories are not resonating with regular Americans. Regular Americans are looking somewhere, anywhere, for even a smidgen of sanity and goodness — something they can identify and get on board with. There is an amazing opportunity to connect with friends, neighbors, or even strangers about the most difficult topics facing society. It also allows us to bring in more conservative people.

A few weeks ago I was honored to moderate a panel titled “How to be Pro-Life, Pro-Faith, and Pro-America” at Turning Point USA’s Young Women’s Leadership Summit in Dallas, Texas. Megan Basham of Daily Wire and I spoke about our personal experiences with unintended pregnancies, and the consequences for the mother and the family.

The panel was joined by Lila Rose (founder of Live Action Network) and Jenna Ellis, Salem Podcast Network host and lawyer.

I’d briefly told my story a few weeks earlier on Twitter, shortly after the draft opinion in the DobbsThe case was published.

We wept together as we mourned what had been.

I was shocked to learn that she had regretted her abortion nearly immediately afterwards. She took nearly two decades to forgive herself. But, the pain doesn’t stop.

— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) May 4, 2022

I’m in tears… thank you. That’s what I hope. So many times over the years I’ve wished my sibling was here… I use “she” b/c I always wanted a sister. As it turns out she would have only been 3 yrs older than my oldest – they would have grown up together.

— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) May 4, 2022

Even though I did not mention in my thread that I wanted to criminalize abortion in two-tweet, many of the pro-abort people pounced accusing me, saying that they want to see women dying in back alleys while wearing coat hangers between each leg. In my opinion, the reason that crowd reacts so viscerally to heartfelt pro-life stories is because it’s not natural for a woman to be okay with killing their own child, a little independent and unique person who’s literally part of them. They must remove the humanity in them to keep that veneer of acceptance.

What was both heartbreaking and eye-opening were the number of comments from women and men with whom I’ve been “Twitter friends” years, sharing that they’ve faced the same pain, depression, shame, and not being able to forgive themselves. Many of these women had horrendous stories about being coerced or manipulated by their partners or doctors into getting an abortion. While painful, they said that hearing my family’s story helped them not feel so alone, and being heard with compassion helped them find a bit of healing and peace. They also agreed that the abortion industry severely downplays or outright denies the negative mental health effects resulting from abortion, so they’d found it difficult to find the right counseling to help them move forward.

After we all introduced ourselves, Megan and I shared our families’ stories with the ladies and how they can use stories like ours — and their own personal stories — to share a message of hope and redemption with women who have had abortions, and just as importantly, to give women dealing with an unplanned pregnancy a different perspective and the resources to help them choose life.