Women who once had abortions stay Silent No More

Trauma of past abortions revealed

- CCN photo by Deborah Gyapongt Stephanie DeJong tells of her grief over her abortion as the founder of Canada Silent No More, Denise Mountenay listens

By DEBORAH GYAPONG
Canadian Catholic News
Ottawa

When Stephanie DeJong of Port Hope, Ont., fell in love for the first time at 17, she had unprotected sex with her boyfriend and became pregnant. He told her to have an abortion.

"My whole life I wanted to be a mom," DeJong told a gathering in front of the Supreme Court of Canada Jan. 24 sponsored by Canada Silent No More, an organization that seeks to help those who have been hurt by legal abortion.

Eventually, she went to the abortion clinic, paid $50, and sat down for the counselling session. She was told what the doctor would do, what tools were involved. She was told the procedure would not hurt. She received a pill "to make you feel better."

While she was under sedation, lying on a table with the doctor and other staff around her, she watched as they performed an ultrasound.

'I saw my baby.'

"I saw on the screen my baby. I saw its head. I saw its hands. I saw its feet," she said, sobbing.

DeJong experienced excruciating pain. Afterwards, she was "given a cookie and told not to mope around."

She said she was never told she'd be depressed, even suicidal. That she would wake up in the middle of the night and hear her baby crying. That she would experience panic attacks.

Nor was she told about links to breast cancer.

Two and a half years later, she was among several women who shared their regrets about their abortions before the news media.

Vickie Green of Ottawa confessed to having three abortions. She said she was never told about options such as adoption.

She was never asked if she wanted to parent. No one ever explained fetal development to her.

Dr. Henry Morgentaler, famous for his role in the famous court case that struck down Canada's abortion law 20 years ago, performed her third abortion.

She was crying when she met with him. "This is not a baby," he told her.

Surrendered babies

"I gave my pregnancies over to those who I thought were representing my best interests," she said. She was never told about post-abortion syndrome, about the depression and eating disorders she subsequently experienced.

"Don't silence me," she said. "Today, I come in the name of my children."

Canada Silent No More was founded by Denise Mountenay of Morinville, Alta. The organization is collecting testimonies from women hurt by abortions to mount lawsuits against abortion doctors.

The organization also tries to raise awareness of the fact that 64 per cent of women felt pressured to have an abortion, 67 per cent received no counselling beforehand, 65 per cent have a higher risk of clinical depression compared to women who give birth, and suicide rates are six to seven times higher compared to women who give birth.

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