Dear First name / friend,
Over the past week, the world has learned of Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake's abortion. And what has been so evident to me is how closely her descriptions match those that we commonly hear at Woodbury Options for Women but rarely hear in the press.
I can't remember a time where I've referenced
E Online and
People Magazine but that's what I must do for this story. Britney shares in her upcoming biography that she didn't want to have an abortion but her partner told her to. In our ministry - and in the law - this is called a
coerced abortion. And it is illegal. But, it is also a common story we hear from our clients. They say it's not what they want but their partner is saying they must, their parents are threatening to kick them out of the house if they don't, or their school is saying their scholarship will be revoked. This is illegal. And the mother's rights are protected from coerced abortion in all 50 states. Our clients only know this if they speak with someone like the staff at Woodbury Options for Women. Where we educate her on her rights, we have the tools to help her fight this pressure and we stand with her as she chooses life.
Next it was publicized that Britney spent over 12 hours in ‘excruciating pain’ sobbing on her bathroom floor as she endured the pain of her chemical abortion. A pain, that 20 years later, she can still remember. Contrary to what our clients are told by
Planned Parenthood - that the abortion pill causes clients to ‘feel tired or crampy for a day or so’ - Britney's firsthand account matches many testimonies that we hear from our clients. Chemical abortions are excruciating for women both physically and mentally. And, in documented medical cases, can cause death to the mother.
My request today, is that you pray. Pray for Britney and all the Britneys of the world who bought the lie and/or were coerced into a medical abortion. Pray for their physical, mental and spiritual health. That it be restored. Pray that Britney's story will make the girls in our country pause and question what they're hearing. That the moms - those of us who bought a Britney CD - that we stop and remember what came next for Britney. Her very public meltdown. That we'll stand up and protect the women in our community from this exact experience.
And, last, I ask that you pray about supporting a Britney in your neighborhood by supporting Woodbury Options for Women today at
https://www.woodburymissionpartners.com/donate. No woman should be
forced to suffer the excruciating pain of a chemical abortion.
