Hi there.
Can we talk? I just wanted to check in.
For some of you reading this right now, I know the stories about your decision to terminate your pregnancy.
I know, because I was the person you called when you were assaulted, and I waited in the ER while they did the rape kit.
I know, because I was the person you talked it over with when you saw no way forward, and the dad no longer returned your calls.
I know, because you trusted me enough to tell me about the shady guy who date-raped you.
I know, because I drove you to the clinic, then sat in the clinic waiting room, then walked with you through the mob of protestors afterward, and then drove you back to your house because no one else would.
I know, because when you had nightmares about the so-called Christians who called you a slut and a murderer, you wanted to scream and yell at a preacher and I was willing to let it be me.
And I know because you wrote me long emails after hearing me speak somewhere, and you wanted someone, somewhere, to know why you did it.
I know all those stories and more.
There are others of you, reading this right now, whose stories I do not know. But I know you are out there because almost 1 in four women in the US has had an abortion by age 45. And I know that the recent uptick in anti-abortion conversation on social media must be triggering.
I know that the people who are calling people who chose to end their pregnancy “sluts”, “murderers”, and “whores” don’t realize that they are actually talking about people they know. That they are talking about people like you. Because they don’t know your story.
I don’t blame you for not telling them, by the way. They obviously aren’t safe people to share it with. It’s always you who gets to decide who you share that with.
But even though they don’t know your story, and you know they didn’t mean you, specifically, when they said those things, I know how much it hurts to hear those things from people you love. I know it brings up all the old wounds and makes you ask all the old questions.
Whether I know your story or not, please know this: You are loved by God, without condition, and without exception. The mere fact of your existence makes you valuable, and there is nothing you could do to separate you from the love of God.
Not a single goddamned thing.
There is much in this world I am unsure of, but I am certain of that.
I know how hard that decision was, and I know how brave you were for making it. So if all of the recent news has drug stuff up and you want someone to talk it over with, someone to yell at, someone to just listen and hold space for you, if you don’t have anyone else, I am willing to hold your story.
I will listen. I will not judge you. And I will never tell a soul.
But mostly, I just wanted you to know that God does not judge you, and neither do I.
Your friend,
Hugh