Posted on 01/12/2024 10:25:13 PM PST by Morgana
Claudia Paulk published a book about the trauma she suffered after a coerced abortion. Pregnant With A Baby She Wanted
Paulk’s parents were Christians and very active in their church.
She became pregnant at 19. Her boyfriend responded with “joy and positive emotions.” They both wanted the baby.
A few days after the pregnancy test, the couple went out. Paulk says:
It was one of the only wonderful memories I had of my pregnancy because it was the last time I was joyful about becoming a mother. For a moment, everything seemed blissful as I felt confident about my life with a growing belly.
Concerns About the Relationship With the Father
But her relationship with her boyfriend was far from ideal. He’d once pushed her while drunk, and she saw a red flag. So, she planned to end the relationship, and if needed, fight for custody.
Poulk was living at home and dependent on her parents, and without a solid relationship with her boyfriend, she needed their support. Pressured Into Abortion by her Christian Mother
Paulk had already told her mother she was sexually active. Her mother had only smiled and thanked Paulk for telling her. Poulk doesn’t mention anything about her mother discouraging her or talking about birth control.
But when Paulk told her mother she was pregnant, her mother was furious.
Paulk says:
I felt her disappointment when she wouldn’t look me in the eyes, and she refused to get close to me… Her words broke me into a million pieces as she said, ‘You are not keeping this baby, I am taking you to have an abortion.’
Paulk’s stepfather agreed.
Paulk pleaded with her mother, but the more she begged to keep her baby, the angrier her mother became.
A few days went by, and Paulk desperately hoped her mother would change her mind. She says, “I hoped that under her anger and disappointment, my mother would grow a soft and caring heart overnight for the child that I was carrying, or at least for me.”
But her mother made the abortion appointment. Fear, Lack of Support, and Wishes for Parental Love
Paulk doesn’t really know why her Christian parents demanded she have an abortion, but she wonders if their fear of what others in the church would think played a role.
She had always wanted her parents’ approval and was terrified of raising a baby and going through a court battle on her own.
Even though Poulk’s boyfriend was excited about being a father and had been picking out baby names, he gave in to her mother’s demands and agreed to pay for half the abortion.
After the arrangements were made, Paulk says, “It seemed as though I wasn’t being neglected as much. Therefore, I knew what I needed to do to gain my parents’ love and respect.” At the Abortion Facility
She says that sitting in the abortion facility waiting room felt “gut-wrenching.”
She begged her boyfriend to come to the facility with her, but he left during the abortion, wrestling with his own grief.
When the abortion worker called her name, Paulk said she felt as though she were “trying to run away from a serial killer chasing after me with a machete.” Not Allowed to See the Ultrasound
Staff did an ultrasound, but refused to let her see her baby:
I desperately wanted to see him. I wanted to see my baby. I wanted to see how big he was, I wanted to hear his heartbeat… I wasn’t allowed to. The technician hid the screen away from my sight as she took measurements of my baby.
Poulk was haunted by the thought that the only people on earth who saw her baby were the ones who killed him. Two Grieving Parents
The night after the abortion, her parents went to Bible study, leaving Paulk alone, lying in the dark and crying. She wrote a poem dedicated to her baby, hoping that, somehow, the message would get to him.
Her boyfriend came over. Her parents had forbidden her to see him, but she says, “I was tired of following their rules and trying to be the perfect daughter who desperately wanted their approval about everything.”
She and her boyfriend tried to comfort each other, she says, “two grieving parents holding each other.” Pain, Grief, and Depression
After the abortion, Poulk was consumed with grief:
I laid in bed for what seemed like an eternity; my eyes could no longer produce tears from crying for days on end…
I felt like I was living in a nightmare… I was done, there was no reason to live anymore… I walked in darkness while carrying my pain and grief with no source of light in this world of depression.
Her parents went about life as if nothing had happened. She says, “I never understood how they could live a normal life while watching me drown in sorrow.” Turning to Religion for Help
Poulk sought comfort in her religion.
At first, sitting with her parents in church, faithfully keeping their secret, was “agonizing.” She says, “I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs in the middle of the crowded room to release my anger towards them.”
When the pastor called anyone who wanted prayer to come up to the altar, Paulk did. She had a powerful emotional experience and recommitted herself to her faith. Trapped in an Abusive Relationship
Meanwhile, Paulk was still dating her boyfriend. He was full of rage and became abusive.
He repeatedly punched her in the face and held her hostage in his apartment, only letting her go when her mother and sister came knocking on the door demanding to speak to her.
Even though Paulk had been committed to leaving him before, she says, “I couldn’t seem to escape no matter how strongly I felt about ending the relationship… I didn’t have the mental or emotional capacity to leave him.” A New Relationship, Marriage, and Helping Others
Finally, she met another man, and with his encouragement, ended the relationship. They are now married and the parents of three children.
Although it’s been 12 years since her abortion, Paulk still grieves for her baby.
She now runs a pro-life ministry dedicated to helping other young parents facing unplanned pregnancies.
Source: Claudia Paulk Merciful Grace: A Story of Regeneration through an Abortion (2023) 49, 54, 55, 56, 59, 62, 63, 63-64, 70, 68, 71, 73, 75, 85
I personally talked to a woman one night sometime before COVID hit. I won't say where this was but I'll just say it was in my area. She just told me out of the blue that she had gotten pregnant as a teen and her father forced her to have an abortion because he was the deacon of their church and he did not want to have to step down from that position. This girl did not know who I was or that I come here and pester you all with my pro life news and stories. She just told me this as we were having conversation. I know she is hurting and I wonder what her dad will say to God one day? I sure hope that position as a deacon was worth killing his grandbaby over.
She was 19 years old. She let them force her.
It’s a shame on that family when the father did.
I do hope there is repentance before that day.
She’s not Christian. By definition. She is someone who said she’s Christian
Abortion is a horrible crime.
Having said that, it would be nice to see a whole lot more emphasis put on the “don’t screw around” part of the equation.
There are no social ills, not one, that following the “instruction manual” aka Bible would not solve. There needs to be lots more said about these young “Christians” screwing around as if it’s perfectly fine, and then the parents are the bad guys for not picking up all of the pieces the way they should.
It’s the ultimate FAFO scenario. Keep your damned legs together.
“I was tired of following their rules and trying to be the perfect daughter who desperately wanted their approval about everything.”
Ahhhh, poor little victim. Apparently she didn’t follow all of their rules.
Sorry. No sympathy for this girl. Rather than blame her parents, she should have found a way to be independent enough to have the baby and put the poor little child up for adoption. Then carry on, lesson learned.
“Teen Forced Into an Abortion by Her Christian Mother”
This is NOT true.
A REAL Christian would do no such thing.
FAKE Christians are everywhere! Most don’t even know they are not real Christians.
When that day comes, so many “Christians” will wonder... “Why am I still here? Left behind.
Because you were a Christian in name only.
And I’m not talking about “works”. “Works” don’t get you there.
FAITH, REAL FAITH and belief in Jesus Christ The Lord as you personal Savior. As the one true God in your life.
Headline should read Fake Christian Mother.
“Sorry. No sympathy for this girl. Rather than blame her parents, she should have found a way to be independent enough to have the baby and put the poor little child up for adoption. Then carry on, lesson learned.”
I’ve actually heard someone say “if I can’t have this baby no one can!”
Her parents are not to blame. The sexually active woman is of age, but she’s irrational and irresponsible, and took up with a fiend.
Story smells like one of those AI scripts. It might even be a fake. One thing not mentioned is race.
This woman’s attitude made me as mad as a hornet.
No, the poor little infant should not have been aborted.
However, when these teens are screwing around, usually with someone who isn’t about to commit or support, then it’s good ol’ mom and dad who are expected to jump up and pick up all of the pieces. They’ve done their stint raising kids, but now they are supposed to support and care for their grandchild as well. They have zero say in if this was what they wanted to do, too bad, step up and do it anyway.
At most I would have offered the girl a place to live, free of charge (I assume those were already the arrangements) until the baby was born, then the baby is given up for adoption. Sad? Yes, but a better solution that killing it.
I didn’t detect one iota of having taken responsibility for her actions. Boyfriend turned out to be a loser, poor me. Mother and father made me abort baby, poor me.
No sympathies whatsoever, except for the baby.
Exactly.
My recommendation is to keep the pregnancy and then keep the baby. Why give the baby up for adoption? Is that the best thing for the developing character of the young mother? Are there not great advantages to growing up with your biological mother?
My church supports a pro-life pregnancy center that offers support for moms before and after the birth of the child.
I’m Prolife and I’m a Christian, but this story is ‘anti Christian click bait’…..
….and yes I read it.
This wouldn’t have happened if she had abstained from sex, or used a condom, or the pill, or an IUD, or ...
Any church really. Most people are not believers in all areas when the rubber hits the road.
she was 19? she could have told them to esad, marry her beau and live her life.
She could have yelled “ i don’t want this- they are making me” at the clinic.
she also could have acquired birth control.
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