When women share stories of God’s love and forgiveness after abortion, we can see that they bring glory to God.
Likewise, when women tell stories of an abortion that they describe in a positive light, we can see the lack of Christ in their account. Everyone has a story, and recently we’ve been seeing these stories pop up in a new social media campaign called “#ShoutYourAbortion.”
#ShoutYourAbortion’s large-scale social media trend has taken the news by storm as away to show support for Planned Parenthood as women post their abortion story with the hashtag to try and portray their abortion in a positive light.
What we must note about this campaign is that although the hashtag is new, the idea behind it is not. Previously, there have been other movements, such as the One-in-Three campaign, and efforts to have women tell their story in a way that would reduce the stigma.
This is not a new campaign, but what is so striking about this is that when you read a story about someone who was desperate, or someone who believes they had a good reason to abort a child, and they aborted their baby and then simply moved on to enjoy a good life, there’s a missing piece. When we read a story like that we’ve got ask “Where’s the glory in that? Is a good life for them enough to justify having built that life on the blood of an unborn child?”
The answer that we find to that question is no. Only a story of God, His redemption and restoration of a broken heart, reflects the glory of who He is. Those are the kinds of stories that bring dignity and worth to everybody involved in them.
If you have had an abortion, you don’t need to shout it, but it is important to share it. Find someone trustworthy to confide in who can reassure you of God’s mercy and love for you. Then if you feel led to you can share your story with others as well as a testimony of God’s work in your life. By sharing you can allow it to become the story of God’s love in your life; not simply the story of what you did, or even what was done to you if it wasn’t your choice. You can rest in His love, and rest in the truth of His mercy. His peace and forgiveness is there for you, and He’s ready to give it all to you and work in your life to make your story His own.
