That is completely racist. There are lots of women who have abortions for medical reasons as well as having them for personal reasons. Who are you to tell people how they can or can't live their lives. Why don't you stop spreading lies, and concentrate on making yourself a better person. You are not a doctor or a specialist at all, so when you go to med school and have studied this subject you will have the right to accurately write about abortions.

New commenter to that old post of ours.

Wow. The "race card"! I'm agog. Is that all you got? Oh. Sorry. Yeah, I think it is.

(sigh) It begins again. Same song, next verse. Does nothing ever change?

Hey, anyway, welcome. But you've asked for it. So here we go, updated for 2012:

Let me guess what college you attend or recently graduated from.

No co-blogger lies on this blog. Grow up. You really should do some homework before you make a fool of yourself by saying stuff like that.

I'm publishing your comment because I find it interesting that as an abortion supporter you are spouting the same tired old attack that all left-leaning, Obama-loving folks recently have done whenever they hate someone else's research or opinions: go right to the Obama Party Playbook and just call them "racists."

Really, it is a rote, immature thing to say.

It is even more ridiculous, actually, as there's nothing whatsoever in this post or any of our posts that is in the least "racist."

And even worse, it actually proves it is you who are "the racist" and you don't even know it. Yet.

I culled and reported the valid, peer-reviewed published medical/scientific research for everything I ever reported.

You should hold that same standard to the news media outlets you most likely listen to when they are supposed to accurately report same, but you don't, because THEY don't.

You don't like Johns Hopkins research? We linked to that study, among others, in this long-ago post:

"While the majority of breast cancer affects women over the age of 50, extremely malignant forms tend to afflict women under age 40 more commonly... However, epidemiological data show that among women under age 35, African-American and Hispanic women are disproportionately affected by breast cancer. In one national hospital survey, 6.3% and 6.2% of all breast tumors treated at the participating hospitals were among African-American and Hispanic women under age 35, compared to only 2.8% for non-Hispanic white women under age 35."

In 2004, black women had 3 times the rate of abortions as Caucasian women. African-Americans at that time were 13% of our population, yet they were having over 35% of all abortions.

Now in 2011, it seems it's something like 3 to 5 times as many black babies are being aborted as white. You really, honestly believe there is no relationship between these facts??

Don't take my word for the stats. Some of it is in these videos by this and other black organizations.

Would you be interested to know who thinks exactly what is racist? Go ask the people of color and various ethnicity, like those folks who put together that video series on the subject of abortion targeting minorities.

Or ask Eve Sanchez Silver, who in September 2004, resigned her position as a charter member of The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation's National Hispanic/Latina Advisory Council. She had learned “that Komen's affiliates have helped fund Planned Parenthood.” She said, “It makes me wonder what other abortion related agendas Komen may be supporting…Is one hand washing the other?”

Go read what Day Gardner says. She's the head of the National Black Pro-Life Union.

Especially click on the tab that says "Margaret Sanger and The Negro Project".

Ask Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg herself, who in 2009, said, "Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of. So that Roe was going to be then set up for Medicaid funding for abortion."

And listen to the actual quotes of Planned Parenthood's founders, found at this website and others.

Then watch what they are saying about that movie.

Ask my friend Charnette who knows her breast cancer at a very young age was caused by her prior abortion.

Ask Rev. Childress why he thinks Obama is "the face of black genocide in America today."

Then: after. all. that. DYOR and perhaps even more on your very own, I invite you to come back and explain to us how exactly it is that WE'RE "racist."

And there are NOT "lots of women who have abortions for medical reasons" actually. Your being ignorant of that fact, as well as all the others above, doesn't change any of the actual facts.

I ask you what you asked me: "Who are you to tell people how they can or can't live their lives?"

You seem to be telling folks—especially 15 million black babies—they can't live AT ALL, by your support of abortion.

Lastly, if only doctors or specialists are allowed to accurately write about abortions, then you must dismiss and abandon every news media story about abortions that you've ever swallowed hook line and sinker.

But you probably never will. Too bad.

Best of luck with that college education of yours.

When Faced with the Past, the Strongest Man Cries

4/13/04

By Annie Banno


This is the story of someone I’ll call "Jack." He wrote this to me after reading one of my columns. It is so compelling that I've devoted the entire column to his words. While Silent No More focused at first on women's healing from abortion, several post-abortive men have joined us in support and in public, and we welcome them unequivocally.

Dear Annie:

I hesitated until I felt I was in a comfortable situation to write about my experience with abortion. I realize now that I'm not going to get to a point where it is comfortable. I think as a guy I tend to avoid my emotions.

My conversion to Christ and my experience with abortion are closely intertwined. Therefore, I have to give you a testimony to faith at the same time I explain my abortion experience.

I was raised Catholic. We went to church on Saturday nights but didn't have any regular prayer time as a family or religious discussion. I remember having some experiences of faith as a child but by the time it was time for my confirmation, I had turned away from the faith. I chose not to be confirmed.

I went to public school and remember learning about abstinence and at the same time learning about "protection." A friend of mine and I were discussing this approach recently and he said that it’s kind of like saying "don't steal but if you are going to steal this is how not to get caught." The devil convinced the culture that it's OK to separate love and life.

Now we have a culture that hedonistically enjoys using people for their enjoyment instead of giving themselves in a life-long love. The marital act alone has truth and is a lie outside of it. It is also a lie to say I give myself in marriage, but then in the marital act contracept and do not give oneself fully or receive your spouse fully. Husband and wife are meant to love each other so much that it creates a third person — a trinity. A community of life and love. I didn't realize any of these things from my public school health class, from family life, or from catechism classes (only recently through a local Theology of the Body study group and through reading).

I went headlong into the hedonistic and utilitarian culture. But I always searched for meaning in life and ultimately for God. I searched for God in any spirituality that didn’t also include calling myself a sinner.

When I was about 20, I met a girl at work. We ended up becoming sexually active very quickly. She became pregnant. I never had an anti-child mentality. I was excited about her pregnancy. She had an eating disorder which made it difficult for her to accept getting larger. She was scared. We got in our first major argument over her pregnancy. She wanted an abortion, while I was already getting some sense of fatherhood. She told me she wasn't sure she wanted to be with me if I didn’t support her in this.

I realize now that I was in an idolatrous situation. My girlfriend was my idol and my everything. I was willing to commit human sacrifice (of a child) to this idol. I couldn’t afford losing her. I called up my sister who I knew was involved with N.O.W. and a staunch pro-choice feminist. I called her essentially for approval and support. I also sought advice from friends and family, and no one argued against the abortion. But, I'm not sure if I would have listened anyway. We made the appointment and my sister and I went with my girlfriend. I paid for it. I remember a pro-life person nearly convincing her not to go in the clinic. She became upset but still went through with it.

As she remembers it, it might have been twins. At that moment, we both felt a great loss. I couldn’t look at myself as not being a sinner anymore. As a prodigal son, I realized I was in the mud with the pigs. We almost immediately wanted to have another child. About a month or two later she was pregnant again. We got engaged. Between the sin of the abortion of my first child and preparing for the birth of my second child, I started searching through Protestant churches. I could now easily hear that I was a sinner and in need of a Savior. A friend at work invited me to a Bible study. I invited Jesus into my life and immediately felt a burning in my heart and the need for changes in my life. I started praying regularly and reading the Bible. I joined an Assembly of God Church. We would play Mozart on my girlfriend’s stomach for the baby to hear. We bought a house and had our daughter, Miranda Faith. Words can’t describe my wonder and amazement when I held her after she was delivered. As I was bringing her home from the hospital, I turned on the radio. The song that played was "You’ll Be Blessed" by Elton John. I started crying and it was difficult to drive. My fiancée and I were married about six months later.

About a year and a half later, my devout Catholic grandmother was dying of cancer in a nursing home. My brother-in-law was also a good example of a devout Catholic. I started to see what being a Catholic was really about. My grandmother was suffering and probably offering it up for my conversion. My devout Catholic brother-in-law was going to head off on a missionary trip for almost a year. Before he left I told him I was interested in learning more about Catholicism and he gave me a book called A Father Who Keeps His Promises by Scott Hahn. I started realizing the truths of the Catholic faith and quickly had a reversion. I went to Confession and gave it all to Jesus and He gave me His love and His healing.

In the meantime, my wife had stopped going to her Church and had started partying. I treated her poorly. Within weeks of my conversion, she told me that she wanted a divorce. I left the house and moved in with my parents. I immediately had my daughter baptized.

A couple weeks later my grandmother died. I didn’t have the support of friends and held onto Jesus with all that I had. I started going to Mass daily and to Eucharistic Adoration often. Jesus carried me through. I almost lost my house to foreclosure, I wrecked my car and it seemed as if everything I had was wiped out. I believe that the suffering, although difficult, was necessary.

I was divorced a couple months later and have had partial custody of my daughter ever since. This marriage has since been annulled, and I finally received Confirmation.

Being a father and understanding the true meaning of Eucharist, life and the Fatherhood of God, I realized the need to heal from my involvement with abortion. I was forgiven by God through the Sacrament of Reconciliation yet I felt I needed to face what I did more directly and find healing. I saw the Rachel’s Vineyard ads at a church and inquired whether a man could attend. They said yes and so I went. I don’t know if I ever cried as much as I did on that weekend. I grieved the loss of my child along with many of the women who were there, some who felt forced into having abortions by men. I realized the mercy and love of God to an extent that I never had before. I experienced God's forgiveness and healing in a deeper way. I asked for my child’s forgiveness. I named her Rebecca. I still to this day experience sorrow because Rebecca is not with me, but I find comfort in the mercy of God and I hope I will see her one day.

God bless,

"Jack"

P.S. Please feel free to post this if it could help others in your ministry. And let me know if there are any other ways I could help. I have sent this note to my present girlfriend because I don’t know if I've expressed my abortion experience to her like this before.

I am reminded of the Dan Fogelberg song, "Souvenirs" for its lyric: "When faced with the past, the strongest man cries." "Jack" is certainly among the strongest of men.

If you know or think you know a man who regrets an abortion in his past, or a woman who does, please pray about this: consider printing this and showing it to him and/or her. Chances are that we all know at least two such Jacks in our lives.

This was one in a column series originally appearing on APR. 13, 2004 for

© Copyright 2004 Annie Banno

Since the columns are no longer up on the CE website,
I'm reposting them here, updating as needed. Though dated, I hope and pray there is much that still can be of some help.

IN MEMORY OF:

Eve Christine, child of H.

February 1979: Luke Raphael, child of R.

February 11, 1983: Mary Lee, child of N.

To learn more about these memorials to our children or family members lost to abortion, or to post one of your own (anonymously if you choose), please read this.

Aching to Unburden, But Wondering How?

3/13/03      (with updates)

By Annie Banno


No hable inglés? ¿Qué es la Campaña No Más Silencio?


Many have written me saying they want to go public with their stories of abortion, but don’t know how to do so without their little ones finding out. This is truly a painful dilemma for the thousands of women who contacted Silent No More about wanting to attend the January press conferences around the U.S. but being unable to risk this kind of publicity:


(photo courtesy of the "St.Blogustine" blog)

You don't have to do like my fellow sign-holders in public. Not at all. Joining Silent No More is actually a good idea even if you don't ever want to hold signs or speak in public.

A good first way to unburden is to write your story and allow it to be added to the many others that are now available on the Internet. Silent No More's testimonies page lists the stories of 1,430 folks as of January 2012 who've done just that-- and their stories are searchable by no less than 24 categories.

Groups like Operation Outcry have posted several testimonies from among their state leaders, including that of my very dear friend Theresa Bonopartis.

After reading what others have written, writing your thoughts and feelings down can help give you some peace and relief from the strain of holding your secret inside.

Then, on this page, not only can you can do so silently and anonymously, you could also check the top of the page for a link to the flag of your own country (one of 8 shown), to find an SNM campaign in your area, for if and when you might ever feel you are ready for holding a sign at a silent rally. The U.K., Spain, Uganda, Netherlands, France, Czech Republic, Canada, and of course, U.S. flags are listed.

And this is just one list of "e-mail buddies"--some women and even two men you can e-mail privately with just to talk anonymously.

Several others of these websites also have real people as chat/e-mail counselors who will “converse” with you online or on the phone. If you have no one to talk to, these great people have been where we are, and will listen to your story and keep it in total privacy.

Message boards about how abortion has affected you are available too, like this one and others at this link we've just updated.

A huge number of healing services are held yearly that are designed to provide women beginning to face their abortion with a safe, private place to gather with others and experience the grace and mercy of God, however you might experience that God. Also, memorial services seem to be regularly scheduled every year providing women--and yes, even men--an opportunity to grieve for their aborted babies.

You can attend all these events without young (or ANY age) children knowing the purpose. When my son was still in diapers, he grew used to my attending multi-day business conferences. From the time he was three, I went on women’s retreats while he stayed with his dad. He only knew that Mom was going to a nearby “place to pray” with other women. And besides, he and his dad had an “all-boys weekend!”

I also would strongly encourage you to attend a Rachel's Vineyard Retreat or a post-abortive support group. Our sidebar has links to many of them under RESOURCES FOR HEALING. RV’s site lists over 100 retreats in North America and overseas.

[NOTE: As of January 2012, that site lists over 1,000 retreats worldwide, a growth of 1,000% in 9 years, rather than a slowing down and dropping off of the number of women and men being helped. The countries include Argentina, Australia, Cameroon (Africa), Canada, Columbia, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Malta, Mexico, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, United States, Uruguay.]

You can read a few pages of some women's stories of their RV retreat experiences here.

All such services are in strictest confidence. Always have been, too.

Some post-abortive women become pregnancy counselors at pro-life help centers, perhaps even some without ever sharing their secret with those volunteering alongside them. U.S. Pregnancy Care Centers lists most of the 4,800 life-affirming agencies (3,400 in the USA and 1,400 outside the USA--just check the links at the very top of the blog) and can help you locate one in your area. Even if you don't have time or ability to counsel women, they are always grateful for volunteers (for example, to run the kids' crafts/games area at fundraisers and walkathons). You will make a difference. Several women who work at these centers are post-abortive, and you will feel so accepted and loved that it will help in your healing.

Knowing you are not alone is good, but talking to someone who has “Been There, Done That” or even just or writing it out anonymously can be helpful and important. So call or e-mail someone. It is possible to share your story in strictest confidence and begin healing.

This was the third in the column series, originally appearing on MAR. 13, 2003 for

© Copyright 2003 Annie Banno

Since the columns are no longer up on the CE website,
I'm reposting them here, updating as needed. Though dated, I hope and pray there is much that still can be of some help.

A New "Audience" — Revealing Your Abortion to Your Children
2/14/03

By Annie Banno


Many questions came pouring in after my first column about going public with my abortion in the context of the new organization, SILENT NO MORE. "What was your son’s reaction?" "How do I tell my story without bringing my young children into it?" "What age is right to tell them?" "How do I answer the question, ‘What happens to aborted babies who don't get baptized?’" "How do I deal with my fear that telling them will change the way they look at me?" In upcoming columns I intend to answer each one, so bear with me!

My son is handling it well, but my life story may be different from yours. I’m a divorced/annulled Mom of eleven years, raising my son essentially alone. My guidance has been very influential. We are very close and I still get lots of hugs (though he would kill me if he finds out I said so!).

I’ve always been honest with my son in admitting my mistakes. I want him to feel safe coming to me with his own mistakes, no matter how intimidating this may be. When the feeling of "Mom, how would you know what I'm going through?" arises, he’ll know that I'm human too. Moreover, he’ll be equipped with concrete proof as to why he should always avoid the tempting, sinful path in life.

He was shocked when I revealed my secret to him last year (then age twelve). I had written a letter to the editor of a local newspaper describing my pro-life story and expressing compassion for others in my shoes. It was designed to counteract the violent, hate-filled stereotypes so often used to characterize our side. When I was told it would be printed, I decided to prepare my son, rather than risk having him learn of it from classmates in school.

As I cried telling him how sorry I was, he hugged me, and consoled me with words I used on him when he was little: "It's OK to cry, Mom. Just let it out." Then he said, "It's not your fault." I replied, "Yes, it really was. But I believe God forgives me. I hope you will too." He said, “Of course, I forgive you. You’re my Mom.”

The next day, he remarked incredulously, "So…I have a big sister in heaven?" Then he wanted to name her!

My son accompanied me to the final event on my recent Rachel’s Vineyard weekend, a memorial service where family members are invited, even encouraged to join, where we Moms read the letters we had written to our children in heaven. I realized there at the event how much I wanted him there. I had called his father, whom I had to beg to drive him from an hour away, after first borrowing a car from someone else who had to change her plans.

It was truly a miracle and a prayer answered. I didn't know until an hour before if my son would be there. I wanted him to be present to acknowledge his sister and to know how much he had helped me by his compassion. He came up with me and stood by me while I read my letter to my daughter, Erin Madeline, unable to stop the tears. As he comforted me and began crying himself, I was beyond moved. He put his hand on my shoulder, rubbing my back as I tried to read. Everyone was crying. Then my son was named in front of the whole group as "the brother of Erin Madeline."

He wasn't scheduled to stay after the service for the Mass, but after listening to the others' letters, he said he didn't want to go to his sports practice after all. So we stayed, and he even altar-served Mass! I am so amazed by him and proud of him…and grateful to God for him.

Several women on the retreat were deeply awed by his composure and greeted him with huge hugs. They'd been afraid to tell their own children and family members, but wanted to. Seeing the great love with which my son responded to my confession gave them the courage and hope to pray for the right way, words and moment to tell their kids and seek forgiveness from them.

I finally realized that God has blessed me with two wonderful children, both of whom have been given the gift of compassion for me, their Mom. And I realized that I don’t have to be ashamed anymore.

This was the second in the series of columns, originally appearing on FEB. 14, 2003 for

© Copyright 2003 Annie Banno

Since the columns are no longer up on the CE website,
I'm reposting them here. Though dated, I hope and pray there is much that still can be of some help.

Resources for Men                                 ** UPDATED 2012 **

M.A.N.: Men and Abortion Network ... At www.menandabortion.NET

Reclaiming Fatherhood, currently with a youtube rap video by an Oakland, Calif. rapper about the loss of his child to abortion ... At www.menandabortion.INFO

Rachel's Vineyard Men's Site

Unborn Memorials... this is a project of...

Fatherhood Forever

Resources for Men dealing with grief over the abortion of a child, including at least 8 good books and 3 video/DVDs.

Silent No More stories, searchable by men's, women's and many subcategories of experience. There are 50 stories by men alone.

The opportunity to post your own regret of lost fatherhood.




We've been alerted that there is one Pro-Choice Men's Site to be careful of:
"Please note that www.menandabortion.com is a pro-choice site. The author (Dr. Shostak) did some of the very early research on men after abortion, but this is a very confusing site which seems to support the need for abortion. It may not be helpful to the man who is suffering after an abortion loss. Men have told me they find it very confusing."

Message boards, e-groups and chat rooms that offer online support after abortion.                                  ** UPDATED 2012 **

Here are the links. Below, I include my descriptions of and opinionated commentary on these message boards.

"Safe Haven: a place for healing from the trauma of abortion" -- on this page are 2 links, to a message board and a chat room.
The Post-Abortion Stress Syndrome (PASS) website
ARIN offers 3 message boards: "How Abortion Affected You?" "How Has Recovery Impacted Your Life?" and "Online Memorial for a child lost to abortion."
Forgiving Abortion
Cheryl's Page
Yahoo e-groups for support after abortion.

My comments on these resources.
The Post-Abortion Stress Syndrome (PASS) website is the largest message board for post-abortion support with about 9,000 registered users [as of 2010, they state they have had 31,443 members]. It offers a highly moderated set of message boards on many different topics of interest to those who are suffering after abortion. Registration is required to view or post on the message boards. Message boards include "recent abortion", "seriously grieving", "triggers", "coerced abortion", "eating disorders", "multiple abortions", "late-term abortions", "media content warnings" and many more.

Jilly, the founder of the PASS website, has strong views about the meaning of emotional distress after abortion. She writes:

How you feel after an abortion should not be a 'political' or 'religious' issue - if you have a need for support, or emotional or physical problems, they should be treated just like the issues with any other medical procedure.

We treat this as a medical issue for women, not a political or religious one. Therefore at our message boards, our chats and our email lists there is no discussion allowed on prolife vs prochoice issues, judgement or questioning of women's reasons, or discussions about the "morality" of abortion.

This policy encourages women to share what they are actually feeling, without getting sidetracked into intellectualizing headtrips. That's valuable. On the other hand, many women find that their feelings about their abortion inextricably have a moral dimension. Thus, they need to discuss this, too, as they come to grips with what abortion means to them. Women who want to engage with their abortion wound in the more holistic sense that involves coming to grips with a moral assessment have told me that they experience the PASS website as sterile and limited.

Similarly, Jilly's view that emotional problems after abortion "should be treated just like the issues with any other medical procedure" and "PASS is a medical condition, and has nothing to do with politics or religion" strike me as highly idiosyncratic and hard to defend. A core reason that women experience profound and lingering emotional distress after abortion is that they believe--at times, with part of their mind, or at all times and wholeheartedly--that they paid someone to kill their child. One hears this over and over again in post-abortion ministry.

Perhaps one of the reasons that Jilly believes this is because she is aware (as is anyone who works in post-abortion support) that many women who are non-religious and politically pro-choice suffer enormously after abortion. However, one cannot go from that observation to the conclusion that PASS is therefore just like the issues someone might experience after any other medical procedure.

The PASS website also offers regularly scheduled online chats.

Safe Haven offers the second-largest message board for post-abortion support, along with regularly scheduled chats. The focus at Safe Haven is on Christian recovery. You don't have to register in order to read the boards. My sense in reading the message board there is that the moderators often refer women to weekly post-abortion Bible studies at their local crisis pregnancy center as a preferred way for women to recover. I doubt that it is intentional, but sometimes it sounds as if they are damning with faint praise the multiplicity of other excellent resources out there, such as a one-on-one therapeutic relationship with a Project Rachel-trained Christian therapist or healing retreats. Safe Haven has an evangelical flavor. Some Catholic women may not relate well to this.

Forgiving Abortion is an MSN-based message system.

Cheryl's Page offered a low-traffic post-abortion message board since the late '90s. Her other page seems to indicate that maybe the message board hasn't been active, but the archives are still there for the reading...

There are over forty [in 2012, now over 80] post-abortion e-groups in the abortion recovery section of Yahoo E-groups. About ten have a respectable amount of members and traffic. Not all of them are supportive of someone's grief and pain over their abortion, but you'll be able to tell that from the short summaries. The most active ones appear to be CompanionsOnTheJourney and a_h_ which "provides help for PASS", the PASS website mentioned above.

Regional & local resources for healing after abortion.
                                                                                      ** UPDATED 2012 **

Four good ways to find recovery resources near you are:

1. Call the National Office of Post-Abortion Reconciliation and Healing at 1-800-5WE-CARE.

2. Consult the Abortion Recovery Directory.

3. Call the Rachel's Vineyard national toll-free hotline at 1-877-HOPE-4-ME. They have retreat sites in 46 states.

4. Call 1-800-395-HELP to find out about post-abortion counseling through a local crisis pregnancy center.

On our blog, we like to also keep track of individual recovery resources. We update our list (below) whenever we are able. This latest update was done January 2012.

Some resources have a pronounced faith perspective--very Evangelical or very Catholic. If you seek spiritual consolation and reconciliation, the individual counselor you work with will ideally be able to help your spiritual understanding in a way that is consistent with and respectful of your faith.

If you're going to participate in a group, it makes sense to pick a group that is consistent with your faith. If you're an evangelical Protestant, you might find it off-putting to be in a predominantly Catholic group, if the Catholics in the group talk about faith observances you're not familiar with, such as Eucharistic Adoration. If you're Catholic in a primarily Protestant group, you may not get the culture of a Bible study and feel left out. As someone doing the hard work of going back into abortion memories, I think it's wise to reduce your distractions as much as possible--and sometimes how other people talk about or observe their faith is a distraction.

Lumina is a full-service abortion recovery resource based in New York City/tristate area (CT and NJ), offering counseling and referrals. Catholic focus.

Bethesda Healing Ministries is a program out of Ohio with a strong Catholic focus.

Healing Hearts, a thriving local ministry based in Ohio.

P.A.T.H.: Post-Abortion Treatment & Healing, a Christian ministry in Atlanta, GA.

Rich in Mercy, based in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, helps individuals and families affected by abortion. This program has strong roots in the African-American community.

Save One is a book and a 12-week recovery program based in Tennessee.

The Memorial for the Unborn is a garden and memorial center in Tennessee where parents can acknowledge children lost to abortion.

Bridge To Life is based in New York City and does Referrals for Post-abortion counseling.

Presbyterians Affected by Abortion is a program available for use through Presbyterian churches.

FORMER WOMEN OF CHOICE is "comprised exclusively of women who have had one or more abortions - and now regret their decision to terminate their pregnancy."

Victims of Choice has a strong, one-on-one healing program that can be used through any church or crisis pregnancy center. The ministry is based in Illinois.

H.E.A.R.T. is based in Ohio.

Rachel's Hope is a multi-resource ministry of long duration based in San Diego, Escondido, El Centro and Imperial Valley, California.

Abortion Hope: Living with the Choice, Montgomery, AL

Call For Hope/ Reveille Ministries, in Lake Mary, FL.

International Ministries:

An Australian Christian post-abortion recovery ministry.


(more to come...)

As of 7:50 pm Sun. January 29, 2012, EST, USA.

Unique visitors in the past 6 days to a blog six years on hiatus that does no marketing, no PR, no "monetizing," no "AdSense words," no Facebooking, no tweeting, posts no cluttering ads in its sidebars, no nothing.

Just letting you know you're not alone, here, as anonymous as you wish to remain.

Welcome.

A "New" Message

By Annie Banno

It’s been just over one month since I began “sidewalk counseling” at the abortion center. Already, I’ve delivered my story on a local TV show about post-abortive stress disorder and the healing I gained from Rachel’s Vineyard Retreats. The local paper has interviewed me twice for two different articles (my son was pictured in one, holding his sign at the abortuary). I’ve been recruited to become Connecticut State Leader for SILENT NO MORE. I took the Amtrak “LifeTrain” to last week’s March for Life with twenty-five fellow parishioners and 500 more from our Diocese. And I’ve been invited to contribute this column to Catholic Exchange.

Remarkable what our Lord can do when we let Him! Highly unusual? Only if one chooses not to view life through eyes of faith.

The March for Life was remarkable. It felt 14 degrees with the wind-chill, but the sun shone bright all day on the 100,000 life-advocates in attendance on the streets of Washington, D.C. There were many speakers: U.S. bishops, a U.S. senator, 11 congressmen, President Bush by phone from St. Louis; even an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, who lambasted Presidential-hopeful and pro-abortion Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman from my state of Connecticut, calling him “excommunicated” and blowing the shofar horn, the Jewish call to repentance. The speeches were inspiring.

But what stirred me the most were the two women who asked me, “Is that your story on your sign?” When I answered yes, they hugged me and said through tears, “Mine too.” I told them how brave they are; they thanked me for giving voice to our mutual pain. I told them about SILENT NO MORE, the organization helping post-abortive women find healing from their remorse. One wasn’t ready to “come out” but was getting there.

Looking back on the event, I remain less moved by the enormous size and tremendous fervor of the crowd as by the fact that God, through me, helped these two women feel less alone in their struggle of post-abortive grief and guilt. Three other women and two men thanked me for having the courage to hold my sign, and many others photographed it. It loomed high above most others since I’d made the handle very long and sturdy, and the sign itself very large. It was quite heavy, but I wanted many people to see it and likewise be comforted and encouraged.

My sign reflected a message that is relatively new to the pro-life movement. It is a variation of the message of SILENT NO MORE: “I regret my abortion.” Hopefully it is one that will transform the movement into one that gains the support and stirs the passions of an overwhelming majority of American women.

After nearly half a lifetime of hidden pain and regret, I have finally mustered up the courage to proclaim to the world: 24 YEARS LATER, MY ‘CHOICE’ HURTS ME STILL.

This was the first in a series of columns which originally appeared beginning on JAN. 28, 2003 for

© Copyright 2003 Annie Banno

Since the columns are no longer up on the CE website,
I'll repost them here. Though dated, I hope and pray there is much that still can be of some help.

More proof of the MainStream Media (MSM) stupidity and bias, this time CBS' D.C. affiliate, against anyone pro-life:

...The photo slide show initially featured seven photos of abortion supporters...

Upwards of 50,000 pro-life supporters turned out in the DC cold to participate in the March for Life, yet apparently CBS could only find the small handful of pro-abortion supporters to photograph...

...it wasn’t long before the comments section on the CBS website exploded with pro-lifers crying foul...Finally, a day or so later, CBS altered its slide show and added some photos of some of the actual participants of the pro-life march. The slide show now features seven photos of pro-lifers and an equal amount of pro-abortion supporters.

Even if it really was only "upwards of 50,000 pro-life supporters"--that, compared to 7 pro-abortion supporters? And they give them equal. coverage.

They should have shown a picture with 7,143 pro-life marchers in it, and a picture of a single pro-abortion person that day.

Makes me want to just spit.

The columns that got me invited to co-blog here — reposted and updated for 2012

A "New" Message

A New "Audience" — Revealing Your Abortion to Your Children