When trying to reach a girl at risk for abortion, remember to think of her needs first, says a young woman has been there - listen, and respond with compassion.
Rebekah Hagan rescued her second son Zechariah, now eight, from chemical abortion through Abortion Pill Reversal, and she shared a glimpse into the mindset of abortion vulnerable women for the Students for Life of American National Pro-Life Summit.
The Summit was held in Washington D.C. on Jan. 22, the day following the 49th annual national March for Life and the anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion on demand in the U.S. throughout pregnancy.
Hagan is a pro-life speaker and serves in Ministry Advancement for Heartbeat International, which manages the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN).
She told the young people attending the Summit that to better understand the young woman they are trying to reach and save her from abortion; they must first think like her.
Hagan took the pro-life youth on a road trip with her through the telling of a story, so they could better visualize how, despite the best-laid plans, unplanned detours occur, one’s tools may fail, causing a loss of control and a near-crash, and leaving one feeling the need to just get off at the nearest exit.
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Hagan found out in 2013 that she was pregnant with her second child. At almost 19 years old, she’d had her first child as a 17-year-old high school senior and had finally regained her parents’ trust. She was doing well as a student at Sacramento State University, figuring out life as a newly single mom, having just ended the toxic, verbally and physically abusive relationship she had been in with her son's father, and moving in with her parents at that time.
When she discovered she was pregnant, she panicked, knowing what was ahead already being a single mom, and frightened of how her dad would react.
She did not consider choosing life in that moment, she did not call a friend, didn't search the Bible for an answer. She thought she had to have an abortion “quickly and quietly.”
Hagan said many of the women choosing abortion are already mothers, and like she did, they may think it unfair the to the children they have to have another baby.
“I thought it would be an irresponsible choice to have another child,” Hagan recalled. “And so, in a moment of panic, and a moment of crisis, abortion looked a whole lot like hope.”
To reach a young woman feeling s though she must have an abortion, you must first understand her, Hagan explained.
Hagan proceeded to detail how chemical abortion, the two-drug regimen also known as medical abortion or medication abortion, is marketed to young girls.
“They're not calling it what it is,” she said. “They're calling it the 10-week-after pill, missed period pill, plan C.”
“And the reason I bring this up,” Hagan said, “is when you combine a girl who's frantic, who thinks there's hope waiting on the other side of that decision with a chemical abortion, that's telling her - this is going to be natural, this is going to be as simple as taking a couple of pills, you can go back to work or school the very next day, and this will only cost you 500 bucks - It is really no wonder why young girls on your campuses, both high school and college are choosing this as an option for their unplanned pregnancy.”
Frantic, thinking anything was better than facing her father, she ended up at a Planned Parenthood center on March 13, 2013.
“And I will never, ever forget that day,” Hagan recalled.
She did not want to be there - but thought she had to.
The abortion staff told Hagan everything she had read online; that it would be really natural, like her monthly menstrual cycle, some bleeding, some cramping, and she could go back to work or school the next day.
“You're gonna take this first pill, called the abortion pill,” said Hagan. “And once you do this, there's no going back. And this will simply end your pregnancy.”
“And so,” continued Hagan, “if you've ever wondered what girls are hearing in abortion clinic walls, it's that. There's no talk of the spiritual aftermath, the emotional aftermath, the physical aftermath, what's actually happening to their unborn child. In fact, they don't even call it that - it's just the ending of a pregnancy.”
Hagan was told to take a second set of pills 24 hours later and she would expel her pregnancy, but she was not told at 18 years-old how a pill expels a pregnancy.
“But what these girls also are not told, is that I was being sent home with labor-inducing medication,” she continued. “In fact, the same labor inducing medication that they give to women in active labor at 40 weeks gestation, to send an induced labor at home while my parents were asleep with no medical supervision
“I was under informed and overanxious, I guess, overly anxious,” Hagan recounted. “So, I just said, ‘yes, I want to do this.’ She administered the abortion pill, handed me a brown paper bag.”
As soon as she walked out of the facility, she said, she came to very clearly see what she had just done.
The thoughts came fast: I thought, oh my gosh, I'm a Christian. I don't even believe in abortion. What is this pill doing right now? Has my baby already died? Has it brought this course? Am I gonna be in pain tomorrow? What will happened to me?
“And I started crying,” Hagan said, “and I started praying. And then I started to Google. At least this time I prayed first. And I just said, ‘God, if there's a way out of it, please help me find it. And if not, please help me to forgive myself.’”
Hagan found the Abortion Pill Rescue Network.
“I was connected with a kind and calm nurse,” Hagan said.
The nurse was with her in her crisis, she said, helping her to think beyond her crisis.
“But she didn't judge me,” stated Hagan. “She didn't meet me with just facts - It was truth, and it was love.”
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Chemical abortion consists of two drugs – mifepristone, which blocks progesterone in the pregnant mom’s body to destabilize and end pregnancy, and misoprostol, taken a day or so later, which causes her to go into labor and deliver her deceased child.
The Abortion Pill Reversal protocol is an updated application of a decades-old treatment to prevent miscarriage. It is simply progesterone prescribed to counter the mifepristone and assist the woman’s body in doing what it normally would.
If a woman has taken the first abortion pill and regrets her choice, and she acts quickly enough, she may be able to save her unborn child. Statistics show that to date, 3,000 lives and counting have been saved thanks to Abortion Pill Reversal.
The APRN nurse told Hagan about reversal. Since the protocol was new then, thoughts of fetal anomaly passed through Hagan’s head, along with images of her family being on food stamps.
“And even if we were on welfare, even if my children were fatherless, his life still mattered,” Hagan said of her son. “And I had to stop trying to end it.”
Studies have since affirmed the protocol's safety.
On October 20, 2013, Hagan gave birth to Zechariah.
She went on to graduate from college with two babies, she met a wonderful man, and they have two additional children.
“So, life is crazy and it's messy, but it's better than I ever could have imagined, she told the pro-life young people. “And what I need you to leave here with today is not just the education of Abortion Pill Reversal, although that's extremely important. Please let that news spread.”
Hagan continued, “But what I want to leave you with, when you're trying to reach a girl on your campus, think of her needs first; listen, and respond with compassion.”
“Remember the storm that she is navigating and how she's thinking,” she said. “I'm not saying you have to agree with it. I'm just saying you have to acknowledge it. Be honest but lead with love and connect with her to help be the bridge to hope during and after her pregnancy.”
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages the Abortion Pill Rescue Network and Pregnancy Help News.
