Chantel's Story

I wanted to thank you for such a wonderful web site. In what I refer to as my "past-life", I was a devout Pro-Lifer, and had no qualms about that. Ironically, it was my interest in midwifery, as well as my work as a Doula that helped open my mind about the issue.

It was the death of my own 8 month old son on April 15 of last year that really made my change of mind complete. Upon the death of my son, Cooper, I realized that nothing that happens to us in life is completely within our control. Whether it is the death of someone we love, natural disasters, or unintended pregnancies, things do happen to us, despite the best of our plans and intentions.

When Cooper died, I realized that not all babies are born to parents who are as passionate about their children as my husband and I are.

I am probably not articulating my thoughts very well, but I just have a feeling that abortion is not the evil I was conditioned to believe it is. I used to thumb my nose at the argument that children of unintended pregnancies were sometimes not raised in the best of circumstances.

Now, I realize that every child deserves to be born into the world because they are very much wanted. And every woman has the right to decide if she wants to be a mother.

I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate the information on your site, and to let you know that I no longer weep over abortion statistics the way I used to. When I weep now, it is for the women who are making very hard, very real, very serious decisions. Nobody should have to hurt emotionally, and nobody should try to hurt anyone else over a very personal decision.

Chantel
February 2000