Insights Into The Human Experience

The Testimony of Mary.

Bondage

I chose abortion out of convenience. I thought I could have it and then move on back into a comfortable life without regard, without regard to life, because I didn't think the baby inside me was a life.

My abortions were all performed in a cold and lonely setting. My abortions were all performed in a cold and lonely setting. They told me, No aftermath, no problems, and I was offered no counseling. After all, it was legal... how could it be bad? The government backed it and passed a law saying it was legal. I used abortion as a contraceptive because I did NOT understand life.

I shoved my three abortions in the back of my mind and really was numb to them for many years. I covered up my feelings with drugs and alcohol and casual sex... thinking all the while that these things could allow me to forget what I did.

This leads me to today... my husband and I speak out about our one shared abortion so that other men and women don't have to suffer in silence as we did. I speak out for those who cannot. I pray and ask for forgiveness from my three children, Colleen, Maura, and John... my life would be very different had I made another choice rather than abortion.

The reason I am silent no more is that my three abortions kept me in bondage for over 20 years... the fact that I never or rarely spoke of them kept me down and kept me from moving out of depression... out of bondage. My three abortions were the worst decision I could have ever made... my biggest regret in life is not having children. They told me it was a simple procedure, no aftermath, no problems... life was to go on... but it didn't... I just functioned, but I wasn't living the life I should have lived.

Abortion is one of the biggest industries... you think Planned Parenthood or abortion mills care about women... they care about the money you give them, and then they get funding... It is all about the MONEY, nothing else. I will never be silent, and I am Silent No More.

This testimony is presented by permission of Mary, as well as the Silent No More Awareness campaign. Reach out - Educate - Share. Go to www.silentnomoreawareness.org

The testimony of Mary Lockwood.

My road to forgiveness.

I would like to tell you a little about my involvement with pro-life issues. I have been involved with Right to Life of Michigan and with various other volunteer positions in the pro-life movement for several years.

I have humbly accepted the invitation to get involved in the pro-life movement and to start speaking about my personal experience with abortion. I have come to share my story, my journey, my confusion, my pain, my healing, and my hope.

My talk has a two-fold part, the first being the awesome power of forgiveness, and the second is men and abortion. There are so many ways and levels of involvement when it comes to pro-life issues, but when it is a personal nature, I can tell you it is done with fire in your heart.

I am humbled in being forgiven because I did not think about what I was doing REALLY when I decided to have my abortions. I realize there is NOTHING I can do about what I did except go forth and do good with it, which is why I am sharing my story. This is part of my forgiveness. HE knows what I have done, HE knows what we will all do in spite of it, HE forgives, and HE loves all of us anyway, unconditionally...

There is NOT a day that goes by that I do not think about what I have done and ask for God's forgiveness.

When we think of abortion back in the late 1970's many of us might think of a back alley, a secretive place, dirty, dark surroundings- not true as that was NOT the case with me. My abortions were performed in a hospital setting, a very sterile atmosphere, competent doctors with families at home, with no counseling whatsoever, paid for by my group health plan - no questions asked. My body my choice - but was it really?

I thought I had no other choice. I had a career. I was a caregiver, I had people depending on me, I had my reputation to uphold, I had future plans. I was a Christian woman with beliefs - why didn't I seek help? Oh yeah, it was my pregnancy, it was my sin, it was my problem.

Mary, in the testimony entitled Bondage, is Mary Lockwood. Mary is an amazing woman. She not only provide permission to use her testimony from the SilentNoMoreAwareness.org website, but has also provided permission to print her "My Road to Forgiveness" story from her personal website.

www.MaryLockwood.net.

Please visit her personal website for more information on her frequent guest speaker events for the pro-life movement. Her husband, John, is a strong supporter of her pro-life work.