Interview:
My
Mom's Abortion Failed, so I'm Alive to Talk about it
Abortion kills a living child. But this simple fact is often too
easy
to ignore since the victims of abortion - even when they survive -
rarely ever speak about it. But one victim who did survive an
abortion
and who is set to address the Canadian March for Life Youth Conference
this May 14 in Ottawa recently shared her thoughts about the issue with
LifeSiteNews.com (LSN).
"It is the very problem of abortion, itself, which is typically
shrouded in secrecy and ends the life of the very person who could
share the truth with the world, that makes statistically examining
abortion so difficult," Melissa Ohden told LSN.
Ohden’s biological mother had an early induction abortion in 1977.
However, Melissa was later born alive – a not uncommon occurrence in
this type of abortion - and showed too many signs of life to go
unnoticed by nurses attending the abortion.
According to a 2007 UK study on abortions due to diagnosed disability,
babies continue to struggle for life after being forced from the womb
in 1 out of 30 cases. The study said the children, sometimes gasping
for breath and crying weakly, survive for an average of 80 minutes -
with some clinging to life for as long as six hours. Most of the
children were aborted between 20 and 24 weeks' gestation.
"The sheer number of survivors really is overwhelming," Ohden told LSN.
During her travels speaking on the subject, Ohden said she continues
"to learn of more and more children like me" who have survived an
attempt on their life in the womb.
"Unfortunately, they have faced their own fair share of struggles with
shame and embarrassment, limitations from disabilities, that have
silenced them from sharing their stories with the world - just as I was
silenced by my own shame, guilt, and embarrassment for so long," she
noted.
While she says the response to her story has generally been "very
positive," Ohden points out that "there are certainly still many people
who 'can't believe' that children survive abortion attempts, and try to
discredit us or deny our reality."
In 2002, then-U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law the Born
Alive Infants Protection Act. The President noted that the legislation
was intended to ensure "that every infant born alive - including an
infant who survives an abortion procedure - is considered a person
under federal law." No similar law exists in Canada.
“What a sad statement about how our world currently operates," Ohden
commented.
"If we were talking about anything else other than abortion, and the
research told us that children were being harmed at high rates by
something, you know that legislators and medical associations would
step in to protect these children.
"Where are they now?" she asked.
"In my opinion, people deny the existence of aborted children, like
those in the article who lived, because the reality of abortion is
truly too much for them to bear, and because, if they let themselves
admit that we live, then they will have to admit that abortion is
wrong. So, they avoid that 'slippery slope' by ignoring the facts
about abortion and holding onto their safely held assumptions."
Ohden will address the Youth Rose Dinner after the Canadian National
March for Life on May 13, and will also be available the following day
at the March for Life Youth Conference for more intimate discussions
with youth in workshops.
For more information on the March for Life and related events click
here.
Contact: Kathleen Gilbert and John-Henry Westen
Source:
LifeSiteNews.com
Publish
Date:
February 26, 2010
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The IFRL is the largest grassroots pro-life organization in
Illinois. A non-profit organization, that serves as the state
coordinating body for local pro-life chapters representing thousands of
Illinois citizens working to restore respect for all human life in our
society. The IFRL is composed of people of different political
persuasions, various faiths and diverse economic, social and ethnic
backgrounds. Since 1973 the Illinois Federation for Right to Life has
been working to end abortion and restore legal protection to those members of the
human family who are threatened by abortion, infanticide and euthanasia. Diverse though we are, we hold one common belief - that
every human being has an inalienable right to life that is precious and must be protected. IFRL is
dedicated to restoring the right to life to the unborn, and protection
for the disabled and the elderly. Click here to learn more about the IFRL.