For years after she and her husband made the decision to abort their first child in January 1974, Karen Perez couldn’t think of the person who died that day as a child.
“I could only refer to my first child as an ‘abortion.’ It was too painful to personalize the life I chose to take; to call him a child, or a baby,” she says.
Karen will join Priests for Life Executive Director Janet Morana on Radio Maria’s “Gospel of Life” at 6 tonight, Nov. 18 to talk about the healing she received after her abortion, and the pro-life activism that runs through her family as a result.
When Karen returned home on the day of her abortion, she turned on the television and saw news footage of the very first March for Life in Washington, D.C.
The date was Jan. 22, the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion. She knew then that she would never forget the day she said “no” to life.
“My husband and I went to confess to a priest immediately,” she said.
The birth of their three children filled the couple with guilt but they eventually found help through a post-abortion healing program, and since then they have been leaders in pro-life efforts in Houston. Their oldest son is a Catholic priest who also leads healing retreats through Rachel’s Vineyard. And Karen now calls her aborted child by name, Joseph. She has received numerous assurances that she chose the name wisely, and will share those stories with Radio Maria listeners.
Also joining Janet will be Priests for Life Pastoral Team member Kevin Burke, L.S.W., co-founder of Rachel’s Vineyard and head of Silent No More’s Fatherhood Forever initiative. Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, will join Janet for the final segment.
For a list of Radio Maria stations or to tune in to “Gospel of Life” on the Internet, go to http://radiomaria.us/the-gospel-of-life. Tablet and smart phone users also can download a free Radio Maria app so they can listen to the show wherever they go.
The show will be rebroadcast at 2 a.m. Thursday and midnight on Sunday. All the shows are archived at priestsforlife.org/radiomaria/
Woman Describes Her Abortion, Healing
I had an ex-girlfriend many years ago who had an abortion and tried to tell me it was a miscarriage. She had just left me for someone else who talked her into doing it. She eventually married the guy only to find out all he wanted was a free ride from her (a brit who wanted to be a US citizen…what a little turd he was). That was well over 30 years ago and I know she’s never gotten over it.
More often than not the girl doesn’t want it while her boyfriend does and libs still claim it was her “choice.”