February 2013 – Jessica* thought she was taking the easy way out when she aborted her first child in 1999. Instead, her choice began a downward spiral that left her depressed, suicidal, sexually promiscuous, emotionally disconnected from her later children and diagnosed as bi-polar. By the time she learned of her fifth pregnancy several years later, Jessica – by her own admission – was “dead inside.”

What brought Jessica to the brink of destruction is what the U.S. Supreme Court recognized for the first time in Gonzales v. Carhart, the 2007 decision that upheld Congress’ 2003 ban on partial birth abortion. In its written decision, the Court wrote: “It seems unexceptionable to conclude some women come to regret their choice to abort the infant life they once created and sustained … . Severe depression and loss of esteem can follow.”

The Court drew its conclusion from testimonies from 180 women victimized by abortion. Their stories were part of an amicus (friend of the court) brief submitted by Justice Foundation of San Antonio, Texas. 

“We know that those testimonies impacted the Supreme Court,” Allan Parker, president of Justice Foundation told AFA Journal. “However, the court also said that they had no reliable data to measure this phenomenon of severe depression and loss of esteem.”

In other words, Parker said, now that the Court recognizes that abortion can have long-term, serious, negative consequences on women and men (AFA Journal, January 2013, “Another victim of abortion”), it is open to examining evidence of the extent of the harm. The best way to demonstrate that to the Court, Parker said, is through testimonies (declarations) from the mothers and fathers about their experiences.

That’s why Parker, through Justice Foundation’s Operation Outcry project, is soliciting such testimonies. Already, the 5,200 testimonies collected so far have been used in four lower court cases that were decided in favor of life.

The testimonies have also proven useful to state legislatures debating life issues. 

“We gave 2,000 testimonies to the South Dakota legislature when they were studying the impact of abortion on women.” Parker said. “And they came up with the first government study in 30 years of the actual effect of abortion on women, not the theoretical effects. As a result, South Dakota has passed some very restrictive laws for the protection of women and children in the womb.”

The Court is listening
In Gonzalez v. Carhart, Parker recognized that a legal door had been opened that could challenge Roe v. Wade, the infamous 1973 decision that legalized abortion on demand in America. However, his determination to launch a campaign to gather the testimonies had begun several years earlier through an encounter with even a higher court. 

“I returned from my first trip to March for Life in Washington, D.C., in 2000. In the Dallas airport, I sensed the Lord telling me to begin collecting the women’s testimonies and that these would be a key to overturning Roe v. Wade,” he said. 

Being a cautious lawyer, Parker said he turned to the Scripture for confirmation. He received plenty, including Isaiah 28:15, a passage abolitionists had used to describe the 1857 Dred Scott decision in which a black slave was ruled to be property rather than a human being. In the passage, God addresses those who mock Him as having made a “covenant with death.” 

He also drew confirmation from verse 17: “I will make justice the measuring line, righteousness the plumb line. Hail will sweep away the refuge of lies and waters will overflow the secret place; your covenant with death will be annulled; the agreement with the grave will not stand.” 

In the passage, Parker says he saw the necessity of a hailstorm – many testimonies – if the building of abortion was to be destroyed. 

In the same verse, he saw “waters overflowing the secret place” as an illustration of the tears that women shed as they tell their stories of hurt as a result of their abortions. 

His insights have proven to be true, as there seems to be no shortage of such testimonies or tears, many of which come from women in our churches. 

“At first, I didn’t know anyone who had had an abortion,” Parker said. “But when I asked my own Sunday School class for help, 3 women out of 21 in the class came forward to tell their stories.”

Therein is a great opportunity for defenders of life to contribute to Justice Foundation’s project to end, or at least limit, abortion in America. 

“You don’t have to ask anyone if she has had an abortion,” Parker said. “All you need to do is print the declaration form from our website and pass it out at church; or you can direct people to www.operationoutcry.org; or tweet about it; or post a link on your Facebook page.”

For those Christians who might think that such activism is inappropriately mixing religion and politics, Parker argues that it is not. “This is not politics,” he said. “This is not lobbying. This is simply doing justice as the Scripture commands in passages such as Micah 6:8: ‘Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly
with your God.’”   

*Not her real name

The letter of the law
In addition to collecting testimonies from women and men who have been hurt by abortion, Justice Foundation has mounted an effort to protect mothers from being intimidated by parents or boyfriends into having an abortion. Through their Center Against Forced Abortions, the foundation distributes letters to crisis pregnancy centers that cite applicable legal cases that clearly prove that once a minor teen is pregnant, it is her decision alone whether or not to give birth to her child. To threaten her against her conscience is illegal.

According to JF, minor teen mothers face pressure from mostly three sources: 1) parents, 2) boyfriends and 3) those involved in prostitution and human trafficking. 

“Even Christian parents who otherwise say they are pro-life will sometimes pressure their child into an abortion,” said Joseph Parker, an AFA staff member who also pastors a church and volunteers as a local pregancy resource center. “I’m personally aware of two instances when the letter stopped such parents in their tracks and their grandchild’s life was saved.”

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When fathers don’t know best
Editor's note: The following story was taken from written testimony. Tony is not the father’s real name. 
“I told [my teenage daughter that having her baby] would ruin her,” said Tony. “In order to convince her to abort the baby, I told her she would have no chance at college and that her loser of a boyfriend would always be a part of her life. I put my foot down, naming all of the things she would probably never have.”

Tony’s words, along with a threat to kick her out of his house, did the job. Now he says they are words he will forever regret. 

After five years of guilt, misery, shame, depression, disintegrating relationships and a suicide attempt, Tony hit rock bottom. 

Though he repented and found God’s forgiveness, scars remain. He shares with others who find themselves facing a similar crisis: “Please do not go down the same path I did. Learn from my mistakes.”

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Justice Foundation
7210 Louis Pasteur Drive Suite 200
San Antonio, TX 78229
Phone: 210-614-7157
Fax: 210-614-6656 
Email: [email protected]

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