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A condensed version of a CNN special report, published on March 8, 2013, features hundreds of women who regret their abortions.

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CNN asked its readers two questions: Have you had an abortion? How do you feel about it now? CNN had a whopping 539 responses. It was very clear that women regret their abortions and they needed to talk about them.

The pain of abortion stays with women for a lifetime. If women would read abortion stories before making a choice for abortion, they did not have to look back in pain, regretting an unchangeable choice.  They could look ahead to a bright future without death because they know the facts, the heartache, and the grief without having to experience them firsthand.

A mother’s child – dead or alive – is never far from her thoughts. Women expressed pain that only a mother could understand. Some shared horrific stories of forced abortions; others shared their long journeys to forgiveness; many told of grief that has never left them.  Tricia wrote:

“Abortion is sold as a woman’s reproductive right, a solution to unwanted pregnancy, and a quick procedure that is never reminisced. I chose abortion at 18 and 37 years later I have never forgotten. The physical, emotional, and psychological effects are beyond our control. Abortion does kill and destroy, and no woman is freed by it.  Abortion is against women.”