One of the most moving testimonies I’ve ever heard at a March for Life event was that of Natalia, a beautiful 20-year-old woman whose story would break the hardest heart.
Natalia shared her story on stage in Parliament Square at the end of March for Life UK 2021. She started off by telling the crowd why she was qualified to speak on abortion. She had a DIY/home abortion last March at the age of 19 when it became legal to take both sets of abortion pills at home in the UK because of covid.
Natalia described how fear took over when she found out she was pregnant but as the weeks rolled on, other emotions developed too; ‘If I’m honest, I found myself feeling an instinct to protect my baby’ Natalia said before pausing to suppress a deep sob. Sadly, Natalia was given very little support from anyone who knew about her pregnancy, ‘They told me I shouldn’t, couldn’t and wouldn’t cope’ she stated ‘and I began to believe them’.
Natalia went on to relate to the crowd how she went to the abortion centre twice but left both times still confused as to what she should do, before on the third visit she finally agreed to take some pills home with her. ‘The repeated visits and tears should have been a warning sign to them that this was not what I wanted’ Natalia wisely noted. But even then Natalia didn’t take the pills for a considerable time. ‘I was 8 weeks pregnant when I got the pills but I waited for another 2 weeks (before taking them) – looking back all I was looking for was for help’.
Tragically, no help came and Natalia continued the story of how she was coerced by friends and an emotionally manipulative boyfriend into taking the pills. Natalia recounted how in the early hours of the morning she went into her bathroom as she began to abort her child. She sat on the toilet and looked down ‘What I saw wasn’t a heavy period and it wasn’t a clump of cells – it was a baby . . . it was my baby . . . it was my son.’
Natalia then began to spell out to those listening some of the euphemisms used by abortion -supporters; ‘The abortion industry will tell you this happened in the privacy of my own home.’ She explained ‘This wasn’t privacy, this was isolation!’
‘I just killed my baby in the comfort of my own home, can someone please explain to me how this was comfortable?’ This was a stark reminder to those present of what a DIY abortion really means, as was a further statement Natalia made ‘My bed became my baby’s grave – I still lie on that same mattress stained with blood.’
As Natalia brought her story to a close she listed some of the risks and dangers associated with home abortions in an effort to enlighten those who were unfamiliar with the process. Nataila then looked up and addressed the crowd very personally as she asked a direct question, ‘Can we agree’ she asked ‘that women deserve better than this?’ Applause resounded and many shouts of ‘Yes’ rang out. For the first time a smile appeared on the young woman’s face and the crowd witnessed first-hand the reality of the saying Natalia had heard from her now ‘good friend’ Rachel who offers post-abortive help through Rachel’s Vineyard: ‘There can be beauty amongst the ashes’.
