I don't know why some people find the strength to choose life and others cave into pressure or believe abortion to be the best option. I always wished I had been stronger and had not let myself be coerced into abortion.
In all my years of doing this work most people are pressured by some factor...the good news of course is that mercy and healing are there for each of us, but I am glad Joy Villa made the choice she did and I thank her for her courage in standing up for life.
I am pro-life.
10 years ago my life was shattered, I couldn’t stop crying: I had a beautiful baby growing inside of me… For many women, becoming pregnant is a dream come true, but I was overcome with guilt, agony and shame.
I was penniless, far from home and trapped in an abusive, toxic relationship with a man who had become a shadow of what he once was. At 19 I fell in love with an older man who was very kind hearted with a good heart, but once he began using drugs our relationship quickly became a nightmare. The same arms that once held and protected me were weaponized; night after night, I’d hide in a corner, terrified of being beaten.
I didn’t know who to turn to.
When you’re young and vulnerable, sometimes your mind plays tricks on you: “I don’t deserve happiness!” “I don’t deserve love!” “This is the best I can do!” It pains me to remember how utterly devoid of value I felt at the time, but I truly believed that I deserved to be abandoned, forgotten and punished. I thought “This must be my fault, so I have to stay and try to fix this.”
After a contraceptive failed, I became pregnant at age 20.
After testing positive at a clinic, the nurse began to pressure me to get an abortion. She told me, “We can do it now, it’ll make it all go away. I’ve had several abortions, in fact all three of my daughters have had several. You are too young to have kids. This is the best choice for you.”
She had already made my choice for me.
The rest is here
