Shashana Hazi visited the Colorado Springs, Colorado Planned Parenthood and took the first part of the abortion pill process to end her pregnancy. Almost immediately, she regretted that decision. Little did she know then how close she was to experiencing a miracle.
“After I took the first pill, I bawled my eyes out,” she said.
She sought help from the Planned Parenthood clinic.
“I asked them about my options, and I was told nothing could be done, that I should just take the second pill and get it over with,” she said. “I hung up on them.”
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A former Marine, Shashana’s determination extends beyond her doggedness to help her find an option after taking the first abortion pill. Shashana began researching on the internet.
Her determination to not listen to the abortion clinic staff paid off when she discovered the Abortion Pill Reversal (now Abortion Pill Rescue) website. The operator put her in touch with Life Network. Laura Howe was a center employee at the time.
“Our president then was a physician and her husband was also a physician,” Howe recalled. “They connected Shashana with another physician in the community – at the time, we had no protocol at Life Network for abortion pill reversal. A lot of research was done and the physician to whom she was referred provided Shashana with the progesterone.”
Shashana, pregnant with her second child saved through Abortion Pill Rescue
That was almost four years ago. Thanks to her diligence, Shashana discovered Life Network, a Colorado pregnancy center, and abortion pill reversal. Today the young woman has a nearly three-year-old happy, healthy son.
“He is funky and loving,” Shashana said about her toddler, who she named Attikus. “He’s the glue that keeps us together.”
Shashana is now the mother of two young children. Single parenting was a significant concern for her, one reason she initially gave in to the pressure by the father of her baby to abort. At the time she became pregnant, Shashana was dating a man who already had children.
“He didn’t want any more, and he told me to get an abortion,” she recalled. “He really pushed me, and since I knew he wouldn’t be around and I was already a single mom, I gave in.”
Studies show that 64 percent of post-abortive women claimed they felt pressured by others to abort. Yet, deep in her heart, she knew she didn’t want to abort.
Tweet This: Studies show that 64 percent of post-abortive women claimed they felt pressured by others to abort.
About Abortion Pill Reversal
Timing for reversing a chemical abortion is critical. Otherwise known as RU-486, an abortion using pills involves two drugs: mifepristone and misoprostol. The first pill, mifepristone, subverts a pregnancy by blocking progesterone, the natural hormone needed to sustain a healthy pregnancy. The second pill, misoprostol, induces labor, forcing a woman’s body to expel the baby, thereby completing the abortion.
To save her unborn, a woman must begin the abortion pill reversal protocol within 72 hours of taking the first pill. Women are given extra progesterone to compete with the mifepristone and bring stability back to the pregnancy. Ultrasounds are conducted frequently to ensure pregnancy viability.
Women discover abortion pill reversal by searching the internet, finding the website, and contacting the 24/7 helpline (877-558-0333). They are put in touch with a pro-life pregnancy center or physician in their area to begin the progesterone process.
Dr. George Delgado and Dr. Matthew Harrison developed the reversal protocol more than a decade ago. The treatment is being credited with saving at least 750 babies. Attikus is one of those.
“A Miracle”
“We see Attikus as a miracle because he was our first (APR baby),” said Howe, who still resides in Colorado and now works as a development executive for Choose Life Marketing.
“I have a healthy, nearly-three-year-old; I don’t know where I’d be without him,” Shashana said.
Attikus, age 2
Shashana and her children today.
She credits Life Network for helping her through that time of struggle and fear.
“They were wonderful! Anyway they could help me, they did,” she said. “A lot of what I received from them was emotional support. Anytime I needed to talk, they were there for me. We were all in it together, and I found that comforting.”
She has also grown closer with her own mother, who lives in another state.
“My mom and I are really close – the APR experience brought us closer,” Shashana said. “I go to her for advice, and she has really helped me a lot. She raised six kids, so whenever I’m feeling stressed, I can ask her, ‘How did you do it?’”
At the time of the pregnancy, she worked at a daycare center and she realized the income wouldn’t be enough to support her and two children. So, she sought a new position and became a personal nanny where she was able to take her own children to work in addition to making a higher wage. Her son and daughter grew up with the couple’s children, helping her kids develop special bonds and maintain lasting friendships with the children Shashana cared for.
She and Howe remain in contact, and Shashana shared her experience at a Life Network banquet.
“She’s independent but she also remembers where she was and where she is now,” said Howe. “She’s never forgotten that day.”
To other women experiencing the fears and uncertainty of an unplanned pregnancy and may have taken the first abortion pill, Shashana advised, “Explore all your options, even if you’re looking at it (APR) and being skeptical. Take a leap of faith because you never know where it’s going to lead you – it could be that door you need.”
