Amicus Curiae Brief — Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood

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l OFF IC IGE OF THE

No. 04-1144

IN THE

Supreme Court of the United States

KELLY A. AYOTTE, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF

NEW HAMPSHIRE, IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY,

Petitioner,

PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND, ET AL.,

Respondents.

On Writ of Certioran to the United States

Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

AMICUS BRIEF OF THE

AMERICAN CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE

IN SUPPORT OF THE PETITIONER

JAY ALAN SEKULOW

Counsel of Record

THOMAS P. MONAGHAN

STUART J. ROTH

WALTER M. WEBER

AMERICAN CENTER FOR LAW

& JUSTICE

201 Maryland Avenue, N.E.

Washington, DC 20002

(202) 546-8890

Attorneys for Amicus

a |

E cue |

TABLE OF CONTENTS

AN ACROSS-THE-BOARD “HEALTH”

EXCEPTION WOULD BE UNPRECEDENTED

AND UNWARRANTED AND WOULD

JEOPARDIZE MANY ABORTION

REGULATIONS ALREADY UPHELD. ......... i

A. This Court Has Never Required a Blanket

“Health” Exception for All Abortion

PN, hi ccccudcccectasveteusicadeos 5

B. A Blanket Requirement for a “Health”

Exception Would Jeopardize Many Valid

Abortion Regulations and Actually Endanger

Women’s Health

1. Evisceration of abortion laws

2. Unleashing of new wave of challenges to

. Exposure of women to harms associated

Il. THE HARMS RESULTING FROM

SUBJECTING MINORS TO SECRET

ABORTIONS JUSTIFY A STATE NOT

ADOPTING AN OPEN-ENDED

“HEALTH” EXCEPTION. ..........----e000: '

CONCLUSION .nccccccccccnccccccscsssvcsesese :

Minor’s Greater Vulnerability to

Incomplete, Deceptive, or Biased

Abortion Counseling ............+0+e0005

Emotional Harm to Minors and

Subsequent Self-Destructive Behavior ..... ‘

Physical Harm to Minors ...........-+++: ‘

State Endorsement of, and Complicity in,

a Minor’s Deception of Her Parents and

Peer, ee :

Cover for Sexual Predators .............. /

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Page

CASES

Bellotti v. Baird, 443 U.S. 622 (1979) ........ 5, 13-15, 21

Connecticut v. Menillo, 423 U.S. 9 (1975) (per curiam) . . . . 3

Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179 (1973) ...........00000. 4,8

HLL. v. Matheson, 450 U.S. 398 (1981) ............... 16

Harris v. McRae, 448 U.S. 297 (1980) ............ 0005. 5

Hodgson v, Minnesota, 497 U.S. 417 (1990) ............ 6

Lambert v. Wicklund, 520 U.S. 292 (1997) (per curiam) ... 6

Mazurek v. Armstrong, 520 U.S. 968 (1997) (per curiam) . . 7

Ohio v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health,

6 ac ccebacedeeééeescs 3, 6, 16, 19

Planned Parenthood Ass'n of Kansas City v.

Ashcroft, 462 U.S. 476 (1983) ... 2... 6. ccc ccc cuee 5

Planned Parenthood of Central Mo. v. Danforth,

este tees eens kadecnceste tees 14

Planned Parenthood of Idaho v. Wasden,

376 F.3d 908 (9* Cir. 2004), cert. denied,

EE << «6 ocdneubonésecetcecetes cs 7

Planned Parenthood of Northern New England v. Heed,

390 F.3d 53 (1" Cir. 2004) ......... 0. cee cece eens 3, 6

Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mtns. Servs. v. Owens,

287 F.3d 910 (10 Cir. 2002) ..........0.ccceeeeees 7

Planned Parenthood v. Casey,

SE nd <dousavetcnsndealan 3, passim

Reno v. Flores, 507 U.S. 292 (1993) ........0ceseee0es 3

Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) ......... 000.00: 4, 6,8

Simopoulos v. Virginia, 462 U.S. 506 (1983) ............ 7

Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U.S. 914 (2000) ........ 3, 5,7,8

United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739 (1987) .........-. 3

Webster v. Reproductive Health Services,

RE TI adicsetissecestiniviantans 7

OTHER AUTHORITIES

“Affidavits of Post-Abortive Women Filed in the

Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton Cases” submitted

for record of hearing in “The Consequences of

Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton,” Senate Judiciary

Committee, Subcommittee on the Constitution,

Civil Rights and Property Rights of the Senate

Committee on the Judiciary (hearing held

GRADE, SOUND ccc ccccdvcccoccoteepees 10, passim

<a ARM A

Eller, Informed Consent Civil Actions for Post-Abortion

Psychological Trauma, 71 Notre Dame L. Rev. 639

PU abou ddddddcnedecoidete cduedsundeetaonad 16

Reardon, Abortion Decisions and the Duty to Screen:

Clinical, Ethical and Legal Implications of Predictive

Risk Factors of Post-Abortion Maladjustment, 20 J.

Contemp. Health L. & Pol’y 33 (2003) ............. 16

Rue, Coleman, Rue & Reardon, /nduced abortion and

traumatic stress: A preliminary comparison of

American and Russian Women, Med. Sci. Monitor,

Vol. 10, No. 10 (2004) (available at

www.MedSciMonit.com/pub/vol_10/no_10/4923.pdf) . 10

T. Strahan, Detrimental Effects of Abortion: An

Annotated Bibliography with Commentary (2001) .. . 8, 19

A as

— —

INTEREST OF AMICUS'

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) is a

nonprofit public interest law firm and education organization

dedicated to protecting First Amendment freedoms, human life,

and the family. ACLJ attorneys have briefed and argued, or

presented the views of amici curiae, in numerous cases before

this Court on these issues.

This brief is being filed with the consent of the parties.

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT

The First Circuit struck down New Hampshire’s parental

notification law for lack of a “health” exception. The court

below viewed this Court’s precedents as imposing a per se

blanket requirement that any and all abortion laws contain an

exemption for maternal “health.”

In so ruling, the court below went badly astray.

First, the Constitution imposes no such across-the-board

“health” exception to otherwise valid abortion laws. This Court

has never imposed such a requirement outside of the context of

laws banning abortion or particular methods of abortion. More

particularly, this Court has repeatedly sustained parental

involvement requirements for abortion by minors without any

suggestion that, in addition to any judicial bypass option, a broad

“health” exception must also be available. To impose a new

across-the-board “health” exception would render abortion laws

largely meaningless because of the breadth and subjectivity of

that exception. Moreover, this new requirement would expose

to renewed challenge a host of abortion regulations previously

adjudged constitutional. Even more importantly, a broad

"No counsel for a party in this case authored this brief in whole or in part,

and no person or entity, other than amicus curiae, its members, or its

counsel, made a monetary contribution to the preparation or submission of

exception for “health” abortions would actually jeopardize the

health of minors because of the harms associated with abortion,

and in particular with secret abortions by minors, as explained in

the following argument point.

The second principal fault with the First Circuit’s rationale

was its total disregard for the competing harms posed by the

allowance of secret abortions by minors. The Constitution

permits a state to weigh these countervailing threats and to strike

a reasonable balance. A state may therefore properly decline

furth~r to loosen its parental involvement laws by adding a broad

“health” exception. The greater incidence of secret abortions by

minors that could be expected to result from such an exception

would, aside from the obvious harms to a minor’s unborn child

and to the rights of the minor’s parents, expose minors

themselves to a greater risk of:

* coerced abortions

* incomplete, deceptive, or biased abortion counseling

* substantial emotional harm from abortion

* significant physical harm from abortion

* state endorsement of a minor’s deceit of her parents

* cover for sexual predators.

These valid, indeed compelling concerns find ample support in

the previous decisions of this Court and in the relevant published

literature. In addition, the actual experiences of women who had

secret abortions as minors, whose sworn testimony was among

the hundreds of post-abe~ion affidavits recently submitted to a

Senate subcommittee, vividly illustrates both the reality and the

seriousness of these concerns.

In balancing the competing interests, New Hampshire

reasonably and legitimately declined to adopt a broad “health”

exception that would further expose minors to the grave risks

associated with secret abortions.

ca a aa

ARGUMENT

The First Circuit held that New Hampshire’s Parental

Notification Prior to the Abortion Act (the “Act”) is per se

facially unconstitutional because it does not contain an exception

for “health.” Planned Parenthood of Northern New England v.

Heed, 390 F.3d 53, 62 (1* Cir. 2004). This holding is erroneous

and should be reversed.

In addition to other flaws,’ the decision below failed to

*Perhaps most glaring is the First Circuit’s conclusion that the well-settled

standard for facial challenges, set forth in a long line of cases including

United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739, 745 (1987), Reno v. Flores, 507

U.S. 292, 301 (1993), and Ohio v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health,

497 U.S. 502, 514 (1990) (per Kennedy, J., joined by Rehnquist, C.J., &

White, Stevens, O’Connor, & Scalia, JJ.), no longer applies to abortion

regulations. See 390 F.3d at 57-58. But contrary to the First Circuit's

conclusion, this Court’s decisions in neither Planned Parenthood v. Casey,

505 U.S. 833 (1992), nor Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U.S. 914 (2000),

purported to alter the standard for facial challenges or to overrule prior

decisions applying that standard. See, e.g., Connecticut v. Menillo, 423 U.S.

9, 9-10 (1975) (per curiam) (total ban on abortions was not “null and void,

and thus incapable of constitutional application”; to the contrary, ban could

still be valid as applied).

The First Circuit based its conclusion on the Casey Court’s embrace of the

“undue burden” test for judging the constitutionality of abortion statutes, and

Stenberg’s reaffirmation of that test. 390 F.3d at 57. But this mixes apples

and oranges. The “undue burden” test in the abortion context no more

precludes invocation of the Salerno standard than does the “reasonable

foundation” test in the context of INS regulations. See Reno, 507 U.S. at

301, 309 (invoking Salerno standard and then applying substantive

“reasonable foundation” test to evaluate constitutionality of particular rule).

The “facial vs. as applied” nature of a challenge determines the scope of the

challenge (viz., to the entire statute vs. to a particular application) and thus

the possible resultant re/ief(viz., total invalidity vs. partial invalidity). The

particular constitutional test on the merits (e.g., “undue burden,” “excessive

(continued...)

consider two crucial points.

First, this Court has never imposed an across-the-board

“health” exception for a// abortion regulations, and in fact has

rejected such a claim both expressly and by implication. To

impose such a novel exception would throw this Court’s

abortion jurisprudence into disarray and would prompt

widespread challenges to laws already upheld in court.

Second, the First Circuit failed to appreciate the harms that

flow from allowing minors to undergo secret abortions. The

state of New Hampshire, facing alleged harms on both sides of

the equation -- from the denial and from the allowance of secret

abortions by teenage children -- struck a balance designed to

minimize both potential harms. The Constitution does not

require states -- or courts -- to overlook the very real harms

suffered by women who undergo secret abortions as minors.

I AN ACROSS-THE-BOARD “HEALTH”

EXCEPTION WOULD BE UNPRECEDENTED AND

UNWARRANTED AND WOULD JEOPARDIZE

MANY ABORTION REGULATIONS ALREADY

UPHELD.

In Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), and Planned

Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992), this Court held that

laws banning abortion must contain exceptions for those

abortions necessary to preserve the life or “health” of the

*(...continued)

entanglement,” “cruel and unusual”) determines whether that challenge will

succeed. The two concepts are distinct, and the First Circuit erred by

confusing them.

‘In Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 192 (1973), this Court defined “health”

so broadly as to render the term virtually unrecognizable: “all factors --

physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age — relevant

(continued...)

mother. In Stenberg, this Court extended the “health exception”

requirement to laws banning particular methods of abortion. But

this Court has never held that all laws regulating the provision

of abortions must contain a “health” exception. Indeed, this

Court has explicitly and implicitly rejected such a contention.

To embrace such a per se requirement now would be to make a

shambles of existing abortion regulations.

A. This Court Has Never Required a Blanket

“Health” Exception for All Abortion Regulations.

This Court explicitly rejected a “health” exception in the

context of abortion funding. In Harris v. McRae, 448 U.S. 297

(1980), this Court ruled that governments could bar the use of

taxpayer funds even for abortions necessary to preserve

maternal health. Id. at 316-17. :

This Court implicitly rejected a health exception in the context

of a 24-hour waiting period, in which this Court held sufficient

an emergency exception that covered, not all “health” concerns,

but only genuinely serious threats of “substantial and irreversible

consequences” to maternal physical health. See Casey, 505 U.S.

at 800 (joint opinion), 902 (quoting statute).

Most pertinent here, this Court has implicitly, and repeatedly,

rejected a “health” exception in precisely the context of parental

involvement laws. In case after case, this Court found sufficient

the addition -- as here -- of a judicial bypass option. See Bellotti

v. Baird, 443 U.S. 622 (1979) (Bellotti IT); Planned Parenthood

*(...continued)

to the well-being of the patient.” In no other context has this Court declared

an essentially illimitable constitutional right to an exemption from laws in

order to preserve one’s life, much less one’s physical health or mere “well-

being.” Indeed, if such were the constitutional rule, there would have to be

“health” exceptions for military draft evasion laws, proscriptions against

unapproved experimental drugs and narcotics, vaccine requirements, school

attendance laws, and a vast array of other legal obligations.

Ass'n of Kansas City v. Ashcroft, 462 U.S. 476 (1983); Hodgson

v. Minnesota, 497 U.S. 417 (1990); Ohio v. Akron Center for

Reproductive Choice, 497 U.S. 502 (1990); Casey, 505 U.S. at

899-900 (joint opinion); Lambert v. Wicklund, 520 U.S. 292

(1997) (per curiam).

The First Circuit dismissed this line of cases as not having

expressly considered whether a “health” exception was

necessary. 390 F.3d at 60. But the Roe test -- including “health”

exceptions for abortion bans -- was hardly a secret this Court

might have somehow overlooked. And in Casey, this Court both

reaffirmed Roe’s requirement of a “health” exception and

sustained a parental involvement law that contained no such

exception. See 505 U.S. at 899-900 (upholding requirement),

904-06 (quoting statute).

B. A Blanket Requirement for a “Health” Exception

Would Jeopardize Many Valid Abortion

Regulations and Actually Endanger Women’s

Health.

The alleged benefit of a broad “health” exception is

deceptively obvious -- the seeming avoidance of certain potential

risks, no matter how small. The cost of a broad “health”

exception, by contrast, may be less obvious and thus deserving

of some elaboration.

1. Evisceration of abortion laws

One cost of a broad “health” exception should be plain: if

“health” means virtually everything, then laws with “health”

exceptions mean virtually nothing. Subjecting any and all

abortion laws to the practically unreviewable judgment of the

abortionist that it might be marginally more “healthy” to

disregard a given legal requirement would be effectively to

sacrifice the important, even compelling, state interests

underlying such laws. See Stenberg, 530 U.S. at 972 (Kennedy,

J., dissenting) (“A ban which depends upon the ‘appropriate

medical judgment’ of [the abortionist] is no ban at all... . This,

of course, is the vice of a health exception resting in the

physician’s discretion”). And in a competitive “race to the

bottom,” those abortionists with the most lax and malleable

understanding of “health” would tend to become the most

sought-after providers.

2. Unleashing of new wave of challenges to

abortion laws

Another important cost of a broad per se “health” exception

is less obvious but no less inevitable: the launch of an extensive

new wave of challenges to countless abortion regulations already

upheld. Any law touching upon abortior but lacking an express

exception for “health” would become vulnerable to immediate

constitutional attack. This has already begun to happen with

parental involvement laws, and not just in the present case. See

Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mtns. Servs. v. Owens, 287

F.3d 910 (10" Cir. 2002); Planned Parenthood of Idaho v.

Wasden, 376 F.3d 908 (9" Cir. 2004), cert. denied, 125 S. Ct.

1964 (2005). The same will surely happen to a range of other

laws. For example, if all abortion laws must contain a “health”

exception, then how could a court sustain a law imposing a

bianket ban on abortions by nonphysicians? But see Mazurek v.

Armstrong, 520 U.S. 968 (1997) (per curiam). A law requiring

all abortions after the first trimester to be done in hospitals? But

see Simopoulos v. Virginia, 462 U.S. 506 (1983). A law barring

the use of state employees, facilities, or funds for abortions? But

see Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S. 490

(1989).

3. Exposure of women to harms associated with

abortions

A third, but by no means less important, cost from the

imposition of a broad “health” exception is the harm on the

other side of the equation, i.e., the harm that can result from

proceeding with an alleged “health” abortion despite the

otherwise governing law.

As discussed in greater detail below, such costs are all too

real for minors who undergo secret abortions. See infra § I.

But the harms are not limited to minors. More and more women

who have had abortions have been summoning the courage to

speak out about the grave emotional and physical toll their

abortions took on them. See, e.g., www.silentnomoreawareness.

org (Silent No More Awareness Campaign), www.afterabortion.

org (Elliot Institute), www.operationoutcry.org (Justice

Foundation; links to testimonies of women hurt by abortion),

www.lovematters.com/women.htm (testimonies). More and

more published, peer-reviewed studies are indicating that

abortion, far from being a health panacea, may in fact be a health

disaster for women (not to mention, of course, their unborn

children). See T. Strahan, Detrimental Effects of Abortion: An

Annotated Bibliography with Commentary (2001). How much

of this harm, grief, and personal tragedy might have been averted

had abortion not been all too readily available (i.e., because tax-

funded, or offered without any period of reflection or truly

informed consent, or free from the accountability and market

effects of quality controls required of other medical facilities)?

In sum, there are powerful reasons why this Court should not

impose a new, universal requirement of a “health” exception for

any and all abortion regulations (and in particular, for parental

involvement laws). If anything, this Court should take a long,

hard second look at the untoward consequences of the Roe/Casey

“health” exception, as expanded in Doe and Stenberg.

Il. THE HARMS RESULTING FROM SUBJECTING

MINORS TO SECRET ABORTIONS JUSTIFY A

STATE NOT ADOPTING AN OPEN-ENDED

“HEALTH” EXCEPTION.

As discussed above, there are two sides to the balance a state

faces when regulating in the context of abortion. Respondents

Planned Parerithood et al. focus exclusively on one side -- the

harms that arguably might result to certain minors should

particular medical scenarios arise. But a state may take a more

balanced approach and consider the actual and potential harms

on all sides. Any additional loosening of parental involvement

laws will likely result in more secret underage abortions. A state

is entitled to weigh the harms associated with such abortions and

to balance those harms against the hypothetical cases

respondents proffer. As this Court has observed, parental

involvement laws reflect “the quite reasonable assumption that

minors will benefit from consultation with their parents and that

children will often not realize that their parents have their best

interests at heart.” Casey, 505 U.S. at 895.

The secret abortion of a minor’s pregnancy results, like all

abortions, in the destruction of an unborn child, a matter the state

is entitled to consider. Also compromised pro tanto are the

rights of parents to direct the upbringing of their children and to

supervise and manage their children’s health care.

Less commonly known are the specific harms a secret

abortion can visit upon the minor herself. These countervailing

“health” harms, very significant and probably far more real than

respondents’ strained hypotheticals, amply justify a state’s

decision not to weaken its parental involvement statute with a

porous “health” exception. |

The harms set forth below are illustrated with accounts taken

from the sworn testimony of actual women who had secret

abortions as minors. These women were among the hundreds

upon hundreds whose statements were recently submitted to a

Senate subcommittee. See “Affidavits of Post-Abortive Women

Filed in the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton Cases” (3 Vols.)

(hereafter “Aff.”), submitted for record of hearing in “The

Consequences of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton,” Senate

Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil

Rights and Property Rights of the Senate Committee on the

Judiciary (hearing held on June 23, 2005).* There is mo reason

to believe that the experiences of these women are unique.

A. Coerced abortions

It is “the woman who must live with the implications of her

decision” to abort. Casey, 505 U.S. at 852 (emphasis added).

Yet the woman may face pressure to abort -- from boyfriends,

from employers, from family members. See, e.g., Rue, Coleman,

Rue & Reardon, Jnduced abortion and traumatic stress: A

preliminary comparison of American and Russian Women, Med.

Sci. Monitor, Vol. 10, No. 10 (2004) (Table 4) (awailable at

www.MedSciMonit.com/pub/vol_10/no_10/4923.pdif) (study

found 64% of American women felt pressured by others to have

abortion). A minor, because of her relative immaturity, may find

it significantly more difficult to resist such pressure, amd thus her

abortion may not be her choice, but rather the choice of someone

else.

The testimony of actual women illustrates the reality of this

problem.’

“For the convenience of the Court, the affidavits of five of these women

are included in their entireties as an appendix (“Appx.”) to thiis brief. .

*Remarkably, of the women whose statements submitted to the Senate

subcommittee indicated they had undergone secret abortions as minors,

more than half indicated they were pressured to do so, primarily by

(continued...)

Lisa B. relates:

First abortion at 14 years old. ... My boyfriend, 6 years my

senior, served as the impetus . .. .

Aff. p. 131.

Another woman, Jennifer G., recalls:

The [high school] counselor and I were close friends. |

confided in her that I was pregnant, and she advised me the

best thing to do would be to have an abortion. She told me if

I continued with my pregnancy I would probably be kicked

out of the dance team and my life would be complicated with

achild. We talked about this almost every day and she finally

made an appointment for me with an abortion clinic. I did not

go to the appointment. She then continued to talk to me about

how hard it would be and scheduled another appointment for

me. I went to the appointment and had the abortion done. |

realize now that the school counselor pressured me into

having the abortion because I was happy with the news that

I was pregnant. My boyfriend was happy, too. Of course, at

the age of fifteen and not having confided in anyone else for

advi(c]e except her, | definitely feel that she coerced me into

having the abortion. I was too vulnerable at that time.

Aff. p. 500.

Tiffany P., aged 17, faced a boyfriend who had been armed

with arguments by his parents:

When I first realized that I was pregnant, I was very afraid.

I first confided this information with my boyfriend. ... [H]e

ran home and told his parents. Not wanting themselves or

their child to be responsible for my child or me, they

*(...continued)

counseled him on how to persuade me to have an abortion.

He did so very convincingly. I was asked to think about all

that was before me in my life, graduation, college, career and

all that I had to lose by having a child. And of course, there

were my parert= to think about. How would they deal with

a single preguien. daughter? I would be letting them down

dashing all of the dreams and aspirations that they held for my

life. What about him, what did I expect from him and out of

him? Did I really believe we were ready to be parents? Did

I really want to give up all the experiences and fun that lied

ahead? I guessed not.

Aff. p. 771 (Appx. 20a-21a).

Joan A. found herself surrounded on all sides by pressure to

abort, including a hard sell at the abortion facility:

I became pregnant out of wedlock at the age of 17 by my then

current boyfriend. . .. He and his family then began to “talk

me into” having an abortion. I have always been against

abortion and at first refused to do so. I did not talk over the

subject with my mother because I was frightened to tell her

that I was pregnant and of her reaction. Then a good friend

of my boyfriend’s began to talk to me. She told me about her

history of being pregnant and not married and how it had

ruined her life to be a single parent and, after much

persuasion, I reluctantly agreed to have the abortion. Planned

Parenthood also made their fervent case to me about abortion

being the only answer.

Aff. p. 1219. See also id. pp. 340 (pressured by high school

classmate), 375 (“I was sixteen years old . . . | was afraid and

confused. A friend influenced me to have an abortion”), 385 (at

age 17, pressured by boyfriend and friends), 41% (at age 15,

pressured by abusive boyfriend; at age 16, pressured by

probation officer), 484 (at age 15, pressured by boyfriend and

sister), 551 (at age 17, pressured by boyfriend and friends), 634

(at age 16, pressured by boyfriend and his mother), 901 (at age

17, pressured by her 40-year-old boss, with whom she was

having an affair), 960 (at age 17, “my boyfriend at the time gave

me no other options”), 1064 (at age 14 or 15, pressured by

boyfriend and his sister), 1089 (at age 16, pressured by

boyfriend), 1214 (at age 17, boyfriend “manipulated me and told

me if I had the abortion that we would get married”), 1272 (at

age 16, pressured by boyfriend, his older brother, and the

girlfriend of his older brother).

Parents can be instrumental in enabling their daughter to resist

third-party pressures to abort. Tiffany ?., for example, after

having two abortions and getting pregnant yet a third time,

finally confided her situation io her parents. When her

boyfriend’s parents tried to coerce her, by threats, into aborting

once more, Tiffany’s parents fended them off. Aff. 773-74

(Appx. 25a-28a). Tiffany was no longer a minor, yet she found

relief in her parents’ support. A teenager’s need for parental

help to resist coercion is much more probable.

B. Minor’s Greater Vulnerability to Incomplete,

Deceptive, or Biased Abortion Counseling

The involvement of a parent, whose critical reasoning skills,

knowledge, and life experience (including particularly

experience with bearing and raising children) will in almost

every respect exceed those of the minor, can provide an essential

check against incomplete, deceptive, or biased counseling the

young teenager may otherwise face alone. See Bellotti v. Baird,

443 U.S. 622, 634 (1979) (plurality) (noting minor’s “peculiar

vulnerability” and “inability to make critical decision in an

informed, mature manner”); id. at 635 (“minors often lack the

experience, perspective, and judgment to recognize and avoid

choices that could be detrimental to them”) (footnote omitted).

Lorraine B.’s experience illustrates how inadequate and one-

sided counseling can be.

I went to the clinic located next to my school. They

confirmed I was three months pregnant. They asked when |

wanted my abortion and stated that I should have it right

away. They said “no one has to know about this, just fill out

this paperwork and everything will be taken care of at no

cost.” That’s all they told me. They did not offer counseling.

They did not tell me about potential complications, physical

or mental. They did not discuss adoption or any alternatives

with me. I felt I did not even have to make a decision, it was

all made for me. . . .

.. . When I went in for the abortion, the doctor talked

down to me and said horrible things to me about me as a

person. He did not counsel me not to have the abortion. He

did not counsel me about any possible side [e]ffects.

Aff. p. 61 (Appx. 2a-3a) (emphasis in original). See also Aff.

pp. 46 (at a Planned Parenthood facility, “No other choices

[besides abortion] were offered to us”), 418 (“they only spoke

about the ‘positives’ of having an abortion”), 466 (“I was shown

a tray full of all sorts of contraceptive options .... That is the

only c{ouns]eling I received”).

“The decision to abort . . . is an important, and often a

stressful one, and it is desirable and imperative that it be made

with full knowledge of its nature and consequences.” Planned

Parenthood of Central Mo. v. Danforth, 428 U.S. 52, 67 (1976).

Yet inadequate counseling may well be the norm. See Bellotti,

443 U.S. at 641 (“It seems unlikely that [the minor] will obtain

adequate counsel and support at an abortion clinic”) (plurality)

(internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Indeed, of the

women whose statements submitted to the Senate subcommittee

indicate that they had secret abortions as minors, almost all

consequences of abortion. Aff. pp. 46, 61, 131, 188, 340, 385,

418, 419, 466, 484, 551, 634, 672, 901, 967, 992-93, 1064,

1089, 1137, 1214, 1272.

In at least some cases, pregnant minors are given false

information. See Aff. pp. 340 (“I was told that it was a piece of

tissue with no heart, no limbs or any other human parts, and that

there were no health risks”), 771-72 (Appx. 22a) (the counselor

at the abortion facility “began to explain to me that although I

was approximately 12 weeks pregnant that what was inside of

me was nothing more than a small glob of flesh no larger in

diameter than a half dollar coin. It was not alive yet, had no

heartbeat or extremities. It was just a glob of flesh”), 1137 (“I

was lied to. I was told they were only giving me a pap smear”),

1214 (“I did not understand what an abortion was .... I was 17

at the time and told it was nothing”), 1272 (“I was told that the

baby was not alive yet”). :

Parental involvement thus furthers “the legitimate purpose of

reducing the risk that a woman may elect an abortion, only to

discover later, with devastating psychological consequences, that

her decision was not fully informed.” Casey, 505 U.S. at 882

(joint opinion).

As immature minors often lack the ability to make fully

informed choices that take account of both immediate and

long-range consequences, a State reasonably may determine

that parental consultation often is desirable and in the best

interest of the minor . . . and particularly desirable with

Bellotti, 443 U.S. at 640 (plurality).

C. Emotional Harm to Minors and Subsequent Self-

Destructive Behavior

Minors who obtain secret abortions face potentially severe

mental harm. “The . . . emotional[] and psychological

consequences of an abortion are serious and can be lasting; this

is particularly so when the patient is immature.” Ohio v. Akron

Center, 497 U.S. at 519 (quoting H.L. v. Matheson, 450 U.S.

398, 411 (1981)).

An extensive body of professional literature explores the

various “risk factors for emotional maladjustment to abortion.”

Reardon, Abortion Decisions and the Duty to Screen: Clinical,

Ethical and Legal Implications of Predictive Risk Factors of

Post-Abortion Maladjustment, 20 J. Contemp. Health L. & Pol’y

33, 39 (2003) (listing, in accompanying footnote, thirty-four

studies); Eller, Informed Consent Civil Actions for Post-Abortion

Psychological Trauma, 71 Notre Dame L. Rev. 639, 639-40 &

nn. 2-25 (1996) (listing risk factors and supporting authorities).

Adolescence or emotional immaturity is one such factor.

Reardon, supra, at 109 (listing fifteen authorities). Accord Eller,

supra, at 641 & n.23.

The testimony of actual women starkly illustrates this adverse

consequence.

Tammy D. describes her experience, starting with the evening

of the day she had her first abortion.

I went home and pretended as if life was normal and I hadn’t

just terminated a life. That evening though, the cries of a

baby, my baby would not let me sleep. The tormented

screams that rang through my head over the next couple of

weeks were too much to bear and I started drowning them in

alcohol and drugs. Anything I could get my hands on in order

to quiet the pain that echoed in my heart, my mind and my

soul. A reckless endangerment of my own life ensued and |

Eten

found myself in one promiscuous situation after another. |

quit going to school and worked and partied full time instead.

I couldn’t bear the thought that everyone at my high school

must know of what I had done. After numerous sexual

encounters some that were not only unwelcome, but also

violating, left their marks on my being to a point that my

worth had nose-dived below zero. ... [Pregnant again but in

an “incredibly dysfunctional” relationship,} I was so

depressed that the only thoughts that kept me from taking my

own life were those of the new life growing inside of me. . . .

[M]y nagging feelings of little value and no worth were due

to the fact that I had taken the precious life of my own child

and I didn’t know that my not feeling “good enough” to be

alive was directly due to my abruptly stopping the life of my

first child.... I believe that even though I loved this life

inside of me, I still hated the shell in which he was growing

to the point of still trying to block out the pain from the loss

of my first child which I was directly to blame for.

Aff. p. 357 (Appx. 8a-9a).

T.R. also suffered lasting emotional trauma:

[A] fter the abortion, I felt unworthy, Sad, Broken. For many

years I was self destructive. No standards in my life -- drank,

drugs, men e[tc.]... I never forgot... It still affects me 19

years later -- I’m crying right now. And I remember that day

so clearly -- the date is stuck in my head forever.

Aff. p. 1089. See also Aff. pp. 46 (“I will always feel shame and

guilt”), 62 (Appx. 3a) (“guilt and anxiety”), 131 (self-hatred,

anger, guilt, shame, drug addiction, self-destructive behavior),

188 (“severe depression for months around the anniversary.

Guilt, shame, self hate, marital sexual d[y]sfunction, dreams”),

349 (“I have been drinking Alcohol nearly everyday of my life

Since the Abortions. ... I feel so much Shame and | hate

myself”), 349 (“terrible anger, shame, grief, depression, and an

inability to bond with my first living child’), 385 (“post abortion

syndrome for 16 years . . . Became addicted to sleeping pills

because of sleep deprivation. Experienced horrible nightmares

of mutilated babies”), 418 (“I have been depressed to the point

of total despair, substance abuse, promiscuous behavior in an

attempt to ‘replace’ my children, self-destructive behavior,

nightmares/flashbacks of abortions, uncontrollable anger, severe

depression on the anniversaries of the abortions & expected due

dates”), 466 (“Tons of guilt and crying,” alcohol and drug abuse

for eight years, shame and guilt for many years), 484 (self-

destructive behavior, alcohol and drug abuse, self-hatred), 500

(depression, twice to the point of hospitalization, plus “very

depressed” yearly around anniversary of aborted baby’s due

date), 551 (many years of guilt, sadness, longing for the aborted

child), 673 (Appx. 17a) (“a long road of emotional pain,” plus

annual depression in month child would have been born), 772

(Appx. 23a-24a) (drug abuse, emotional wallbuilding), 901

(“pain and suffering,” feeling “ashamed and dirty & lonely”;

“There hasn’t been a day since the abortion that I don’t think

about how I murdered a helpless child. Not just a child, my

child”), 960 (“major depression for 4 years”), 993 (Appx. 36a)

(“I hated myself, hated what I did & wanted my baby back!”)

(emphasis in original), 1022 (“years of guilt and shame”), 1137

(“I became a door mat after the abortion in all areas of my life”;

“A Haunty guilt has been my dark cloud”; “die a little inside

each day”), 1214 (“left me devastated,” “unimaginable guilt,

sorrow and horror [I] live with every day of [my] life,” the “one

thing in life” that she “will always regret doing”), 1219 (“guilt,

regret, and sorrow have filled [m]y soul”), 1272 (drug and

alcohol abuse, bulimia, major clinical depression, years of

nightmares, guilt, regret).

Two women revealed that they had suffered sexual assault --

rape and incest. Both stated unequivocally that the trauma of

abortion, for them, was even worse.

Emily F. explained:

My 2d aborted child was a product of rape. I no longer

struggle with the fact I was raped. I’m not depressed about it,

I don’t have nightmares. I will never “get over” losing my

children to abortion.

Aff. p. 418. Christian O. adds:

I grieved the loss/murder of my child so much that I would

have preferred death. ... It was psychologically more

devastating than being molested and sexually abused by my

biological father. The abortion will be with me for the rest of

my life.

Explain to me why I was legally able to murder my child but

if I had kiiied my father who had molested me at seven years

of age and then sexually abused me when I was 12 to about

16 -- almost 17, I would have been sentenced. My baby did

nothing wrong; my dad did.

Aff. p. 992 (Appx. 32a-33a).

D. Physical Harm to Minors

Abortion takes a normal, healthy condition -- pregnancy --

and, by chemical or surgical means, disrupts that condition.

Unsurprisingly, this disruption entails physical risks and harms

to the mother. “The medical . . . consequences of an abortion are

serious and can be lasting; this is particularly so when the patient

is immature.” Ohio v. Akron Center, 497 U.S. 519 (internal

quotation marks and citation omitted). A growing body of

medical literature documents these risks. See T. Strahan,

Detrimental Effects of Abortion: An Annotated Bibliography

with Commentary (2001); see also A List of Major Physical

Sequelae Related to Abortion, at www.abortionfacts.com/

reardon/effect_of abortion.asp (listing published medical

sources). Thus, any allowance for “health” abortions brings a

concomitantly increased risk of “health” complications.

Again, the testimony of actual women bolsters this concern.

See Aff. pp. 61-62 (Appx. 3a-4a) (severe cramps, vomiting,

hemorrhage, emergency hospital visit for incomplete abortion,

sterility), 340 (kidney problems), 418 (physical pain, irregular

periods, miscarriages), 419 (miscarriage of only subsequent

pregnancy), 500 (physically painful), 772 (Appx. 22a) (during

suction abortion, “I remember thinking that I was going to die.

I had never felt such pain, nor have I since. I thought my entire

insides were being sucked out”), 993 (Appx. 36a) (during

suction abortion, “the most immense, intense pain I have ever

felt”), 1022 (severe hemorrhaging and infection requiring trip to

hospital).

Ironically, if the physical consequences of the abortion are

sufficiently severe, the parents will find out about the secret

abortion anyway when they are called upon to consent to further

treatment of their daughter. E.g., Aff. pp. 61 (Appx. 3a) (“I had

to tell them everything on the way to the hospital”), 1022 (“My

mother was contacted, told what happened and asked to come

sign the consent papers”).

Even if the minor goes ahead with the abortion, the

involvement of her parents has a health benefit. Minors

are less likely than adults to know or be able to recognize

ethical, qualified physicians, or to have the means to engage

such professionals. Many minors who bypass their parents

probably will resort to an abortion clinic, without being able

to distinguish the competent and ethical from those that are

incompetent or unethical.

Bellotti v. Baird, 443 U.S. at 641 (plurality).

E. State Endorsement of, and Complicity in, a

Minor’s Deception of Her Parents and Others

Official allowance of secret abortions by minors teaches such

minors that it is permissible to lie to their parents, even regarding

serious matters. The corrosive effect on both the parent-child

relationship and the minor’s personal character is obvious:

Tiffany P. recounted that, after her secret abortion,

I went on as if nothing had happened to me. I held everything

inside. No one important in my life could know what I had

done. It was to be a secret forever, to death. The walls began

to build up inside. It was the only way to keep my abortion

a secret, to build walls. This was the first serious lie I had

-ever told my parents. We drifted apart inside my heart but the

facade never changed. They never suspected a thing. I would

never let them. The more emotion I felt inside the more walls

that went up to deal with them. Soon I wasn’t feeling much

of anything; the walls were now not just emotional. I began

to party quite a bit. I did some drugs, and tried many others.

I drank every weekend and the lies about my lifestyle began

to build walls upon walls upon walls, until I couldn’t see over

them anymore. | had lost myself.

Aff. p. 772 (Appx. 23a-24a) (emphasis added).

Perhaps not surprisingly, once a teenager receives official

permission to lie, the teenager may lie to government agents as

well -- including judges -- in order to manipulate the bypass

system. As Tammy D. relates:

I went before a judge to request my being able to have an

abortion without telling my parents. My advocate at the time

coached me as to what to say in order to build compelling

evidence that the involvement of my parents would cause

them to throw me out of the house. That was not true at all,

they would not have done that. The judge sided with me

though and agreed it was indeed in my best interest to have

the abortion and not tell them anything about it.

Aff. p. 357 (Appx. 7a-8a).

F. Cover for Sexual Predators

Pregnancy reveals that the teenager has engaged in sexual

intercourse. Abortion may conceal that fact. And if the male

party is a sexual predator, abortion becomes a handy means of

destroying the evidence and prolonging the predator’s window

of opportunity. See, e.g., Aff. pp. 61 (Appx. 2a) (16-year-old

impregnated by 23-year-old boyfriend), 131 (14-year-old

impregnated by 20-year-old boyfriend), 901 (17-year-old

impregnated by her 40-year-old boss).

* * *

As illustrated above, there are many very serious downsides

to the allowance of secret abortions for minors. A state may

justifiably take these downsides into account, and decline to add

yet another broad exception -- “health” -- to a parental

involvement law that is already too easily circumvented.

CONCLUSION

This Court should reverse the judgment of the First Circuit.

August 8, 2005

Respectfully submitted,

Jay Alan Sekulow

Counsel of Record

Thomas P. Monaghan

Stuart J. Roth

Walter M. Weber

American Center for Law and

Justice

201 Maryland Ave., N.E.

Washington, DC 20002

(202) 546-8890

Attorneys for Amicus

. lw

APPENDIX:

Selected sworn affidavits of women who had

secret abortions as minors (printed form headings

and footers and some formal elements omitted)

Source: “Affidavits of Post-Abortive Women

Filed in the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton Cases,”

submitted for record of hearing in “The Consequences

of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton,” Senate Judiciary

Committee, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights

and Property Rights of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

(hearing held on June 23, 2005)

[61]

AFFIDAVIT

THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA _)

)

COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO )

Before me, the undersigned authority, on this day personally

appeared Lorraine C. Baker, who, being by me duly sworn,

upon oath, stated the following facts:

My name is Lorraine C. Baker. [address redacted] I am over

the age of eighteen years, and I am of sound mind and

competent to make this affidavit. I have personal knowledge

of the facts stated in this affidavit, and I do solem[n]ly swear,

or affirm, that the following facts are true:

1. When I was 16 years old, in 1976, I became pregnant by

my boyfriend who was 23. I was afraid to tell anyone because

I did not want to get him in trouble and because | feared what

my parents would do if they found out.

2. I went to the clinic located next to my school. They

confirmed I was three months pregnant. They asked when I

wanted my abortion and stated that I should have it nght away.

They said “no one has to know about this, just fill out this

paperwork and everything will be taken care of at no cost.”

That’s all they told me. They did not offer counseling. They

did not tell me about potential complications, physical or

mental. They did not discuss adoption or any alternatives with

me. I felt I did not even have to make a decision, it was all

made for me. I did what they said, filled out the paperwork and

was told when and where to go for the abortion.

3. When I went in for the abortion, the doctor talked down

to me and said terrible things to me about me as a person. He

did not counsel me not have the abortion. He did not counsel

me about any possible side affects. After the abortion, I was

left all alone, crying in pain with severe cramps and vomiting

in a room for what seemed like several hours, although I

honestly don’t know how long I was there. A nurse came in

and told me to be quiet and then left. I felt terrible, the pain

was terrible.

4. A couple of weeks after the abortion, I started having

severe cramps and a lot of blood came out of me. My parents

rushed me to emergency, (I had to tell them everything on the

way of course) where I found that I was miscarrying the dead

fetus [62] that had been left inside of me and that I needed an

emergency D&C. I have since been told I was probably

pregnant with twins and the abortionist only took one of them

out, leaving the other to rot for two weeks inside of me.

5. Again, I was left alone in a room cramping and bleeding

and crying while I awaited my emergency D&C. This was a

terrible experience for me and I would not wish my worst

enemy to go through anything like it. Of course, it was also

hard on my parents and I have since learned that fetuses can

feel the pain. This has left me with much guilt and anxiety for

which I have had to have counseling that needless to say was

not free.

6. As time passed, I would reflect on how old my

child/children would be, I would imagine watching them play

and celebrate birthdays and the like.

7. Icoped okay, until I married at age 30 and after several

years of trying to conceive I discovered that because of the

trauma my body experienced when I was 16, I was sterile. We

would only be able to have kids if we adopted them. This sent

me into a deep depression. My husband will never know his

own children because of a decision I made when I was too

young to be making the decision on my own. He had done

nothing wrong but now had to bear the consequence of my

abortion. If] had known sterility was even a remote possibility,

I would have seriously reconsidered my decision to abort the

pregnancy.

8. Istrongly believe that women, and especially teens, have

the right to learn everything they can about what an abortion is,

what it does to the fetus, and what emotional problems will

arise in the future. They should be allowed and encouraged to

learn as much as possible, to see pictures of their developing

baby, to get counseling before they make any decision.

9. Adoption is a wonderful option for an unwanted

pregnancy. The state makes money, the child gets to live, and

the adoptive parents have to go through a pretty mgorous

process to prove they are competent to raise the child, and the

birth mother gets to choose what kind of contact she wants as

the child grows up. If the mother wants to abort the baby, it

costs the state money, the child dies and there is not much in

the way of quality counseling available to the mother. We need

to start recognizing the alternatives to abortion as valid and

even preferable. We need to recognize the amount of hurt that

is out there for the women who chose abortion. We need to

realistically look at how much pain abortion really is causing

people, women and men.

(63)

10. 1 am sharing my story with you because no one shared

theirs with me. It is important for everyone to hear these

stories. I am certain there are many thousands more of them

just like this one.

11. Women who choose to carry their child to term have

many more choices than those who choose abortion. They will

have the choice of raising your baby themselves, with a strong

support groups to help, or the choice of allowing him or her to

be adopted with much, some, little or no future contact, again,

their own choice. These are all choices that give the baby a

chance to live a good life, while not putting women at risk for

the complications of abortion; as in my case of never being able

to have a child, which now increases my risk for breast and

ovarian cancers. With abortion, there is nothing, only the death

of a baby and the possibility that there will never be another

one for her.

12. If I had have given my babies up for adoption, even

though I would not have raised them myself, I would have

watched them graduate from high school and start college. I

would have been at the weddings and I would be able to share

in the joy of their own children. Instead, there is nothing there,

just a pair of twins who died 25 years ago before they had a

chance to be born.

I have read the above and foregoing statement and same is

true and correct.

SIGNED this 13" day of May, 2001.

Please use my:

® full name. /s/ Lorraine C, Baker/Lorraine C. Baker

My signature evidences my authorization

CO initials only. to use this affidavit for all purposes.

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO before me, the

undersigned authority, this 16" day of _May, 2001.

s/ Gurdial Singh Gill

Notary Public

[356]

AFFIDAVIT

THE STATE OF Minnesota §

COUNTY OF Anoka ___s §

Before me, the undersigned authority, on this day personally

appeared Tammy Dempsey, (Print Name) who, being by me

duly sworn, upon oath, stated the following facts:

My name is Tammy Dempsey (Print Name). My address is

[redacted]. [I am] over the age of eighteen years, and I am of

sound mind and competent to make this affidavit. I have

personal knowledge of the facts stated in this affidavit, and I do

solemnly swear, or affirm, that the following facts are true: See

Attached

[357]

My name is Tammy Dempsey and I am 31 years old. My story

begins over half of my life ago and has yet to find a completed

end. In October of 1986, I was sixteen years old and pregnant.

Being in an obviously undesirable situation, I was afraid and

confused. A friend influenced me to have an abortion, deeming

it to be the only way out of a horrible predicament. Being

underage and not wanting to share with my parents my

situation, I was led through the process of emancipation into

being able to make an adult decision. I went before a judge to

request my being able to have an abortion without telling my

parents. My advocate at the time coached me as to what to say

in order to build compelling evidence that the involvement of

my parents would cause them to throw me out of the house.

That was not true at all, they would not have done that. The

judge sided with me though and agreed it was indeed in my

best interest to have the abortion and not tell them anything

about it. I went to the clinic, Meadowbrook in St. Louis Park,

MN and the procedure took place. I was completely

emotionally numb during the entire process. Matter of fact, it

appeared that I was so in control and unaffected that when they

(the administrative staff) insisted that I stay for a couple of

hours and drink juice in order to insure that my blood lost

didn’t cause a fainting spell, I balked at the idea and resisted

their suggestion. They didn’t let me leave without first

monitoring my blood pressure and heart beat in order to make

sure I was “healthy” enough to go. I went home and pretended

as if life was normal and I hadn’t just terminated a life. That

evening though, the cries of a baby, my baby would not let me

sleep. The tormented screams that rang through my head over

the next couple of weeks were too much to bear and I started

drowning them in alcohol and drugs. Anything I could get my

hands on in order to quiet the pain that echoed in my heart, my

mind and my soul. A reckless endangerment of my own life

ensued and I found myself in one promiscuous situation after

another. I quit going to school and worked and partied full

time instead. I couldn’t bear the thought that everyone at my

high school must know of what I had done. After numerous

sexual encounters some that were not only unwelcome, but also

violating, left their marks on my being to a point that my worth

had nose-dived below zero. I met someone that paid enough

attention to me most of the time and I was just 17, almost

exactly but not quite a year after the abortion. We spent all of

our time together and as a result I was pregnant again. Happy

this time and excited about the future of a family we started

planning the rest of our life together. This relationship though,

was incredibly dysfunctional at best. The core elements of

needs being met were enough to keep us together despite the

persistent chemical abuse that never seemed to go far enough

away. In my sixth month of pregnancy, I was so depressed that

the only thoughts that kept me from taking my own life were

those of the new life growing inside of me. I had made a

commitment and I was responsible for this baby growing inside

of me, I felt obligated to stay alive for that reason alone. At the

time, I didn’t put it together, I didn’t realize that my nagging

feelings of little value and no worth were due to the fact that I

had taken the precious life of my own child and I didn’t know

that my not feeling “good enough” to be alive was directly due

to my abruptly stopping the life of my first child. My baby boy

was born healthy and without complications even though I

feared the worst due to my intermittent using throughout the

pregnancy. This is difficult to admit, although important to

reveal because I believe that even though I loved this life inside

of me, I still hated the shell in which he was growing to the

point of still trying to block out the pain from the loss of my

first child which I was directly to blame for. I went in the other

direction of extremes after he [358] was born and stopped

eating and started working out obsessively to the point of

passing out in the shower one day. I was not healthy internally,

even though I had been clean and sober for months out of the

fear of causing harm to my child. Things grew worse again at

home and my boyfriend, my baby’: father, ended up in jail just

six short months after he was born. I was pregnant again and

alone with an infant that was 100% my responsibility. I

couldn’t bear the thought of bringing another child into what

seemed to be a fatherless world. I didn’t seek counsel of

friends or family. I was heavily into healthy alternatives and I

searched high and low for a “natural out” to my horrifying

situation. Nothing worked. I was still pregnant and alone and

18 years old with a baby and no sense of a secure future. I

10a

made the decision to have an abortion against the request f the

father who wanted to have our baby. It was simple and easy

enough to make the appointment. As long as I had the cash, |

could be rid of my problem and no questions asked this time by

a judge or anyone else. It was my business and that is exactly

what it turned into when the exchange of money for service

took place. Little did I know that this experience would

damage my soul and spirit as severely if not more than the first

time. I still don’t recall the procedure. I do recall though

afterwards the emotional pain that came from making that

decision. Once again I found myself overwhelmed by the

realization that I was a murderer. I never really let it sink in, as

soon as I felt even the closest sliver of pain, I was off and

running to any kind of medication I could get my hands on in

order to not feel anything at all. I succeeded in the pushing

down of my emotional pain the point of it becoming seemingly

non existent. On the outside, I was a knock out. In shape,

beautifully put together and quite the personality. On the

inside, I was a disaster waiting to happen. I didn’t realize then

that the effort it was taking to keep all of this at bay was

actually demolishing my physical and spiritual being. I went on

with life as I knew it and started going to school for court

reporting, all went well for the most part, | was excelling

amongst and over my peers with little effort on my part. The

nagging incompleteness was easily rendered as a by product of

my unhealthy relationship. We bought a house and shortly

afterwards I was pregnant again. I so did not want to have a

baby right then. I wanted to finish school and begin a career

that I was really not suited for, but I wanted to finish anyway.

I secretly hoped and prayed for a natural termination, even

though I had not made a conscious connection to the previous

pain of my earlier decisions, I just knew that I could not have

another abortion. I was blessed with a baby girl. After her

lla

birth, it was obvious that I would have to begin working full

time in order to support our family due to the children’s father

not taking on his family obligations. I couldn’t connect with

this child. I was unable to get close to her in the sense of

welcoming a new life into my world. It could easily be said

that I resented having to care for a new life when my own was

on it’s way to becoming something of worth and validation.

We struggled and I started to have complications physically

with my reproductive system afterwards. I went in for

ultrasounds, and the physicians found tumors on my ovaries,

cysts. They didn’t think that surgery was necessary, the pain

though was excruciating and it would wake me up in the

middle of the night. It felt as though a metal baseball bat had

found it’s way to shatter my pelvic region with such an impact

that left me debilitated. I couldn’t stand the obsessive

preoccupation with another pregnancy anymore. I knew that I

was obviously fertile and even though our relationship was

incredibly rocky, the threat of another pregnancy was more than

I could bear. I knew I didn’t want to have any more children

with this man and I also knew that if I ended up pregnant again

I would be faced with yet [359] another horrifying decision to

be made and I couldn’t even fathom the thought of another

ab ortion even though I was not connecting any pain to the

previous ones at that time. I decided to shut down my

reproductive system at the ripe old age of 21 years old. I

realize now that in a desperate attempt to protect myself, I was

also punishing myself for the past that still had it’s grip on me.

I ws not in my eyes worthy to be a parent and even though to

others, I was the model of a mother, I didn’t feel that way

inside. I felt that I had children on a loan and even though I

loved them dearly, I still had this nagging feeling that they

didn’t belong to be because I didn’t deserve them and therefore

I couldn’t allow myself to get too attached out of the fear that

12a

they would be taken from me at anytime because | really

shouldn’t have them to begin with. There are numerous

chapters that could be written in between the time that it took

in order for me to realize that my horribly dysfunctional way of

living was not what the rest of the world had encountered.

After many years of abuse and tormented living with my

children’s father, I went from one relationship to another

sheerly to validate my being worthy of another’s affections.

When I finally found my way into the real world of people that

existed on their talents and education I realized that I had been

gifted with several talents that can make a difference in our

world. Those gifts though, as real as they are were not enough

for me to believe in myself because I still suffered from an

incredibly low self esteem and self image. The one that is

offered up after numerous conversations with oneself speaking

negatively about who they are and why they don’t deserve to be

the recipient of a life gone good. Self sabotage continued to

wreak havoc on my being and I couldn’t get a grip on the fact

that I was driving the vehicle of my life. I still told myself that

I didn’t deserve to be happy and I didn’t deserve to have and

receive love and because I had murdered two of my children I

certainly didn’t deserve to live. Presented with opportunities

to excel I would start out at a pace far above or at the very least

right in with others that had seemingly far better upbringings

and education. Again though the inward knowing gnawed at

me on a level that was undetectable to bring into focus as to

what was really wrong. I went from one achievement and

failure brought on by my own doings after another. I packed up

my children and left this state that I thought for sure was my

downfall. We moved and started over five times before leaving

Minnesota for what I hoped was for good. We moved to the

state of Washington and even though I was very ill upon

arrival, nothing would stop me from moving forward to a life

13a

that I could create upon my own clean blank canvass. The

children’s father was in Washington as well with his new

girlfriend and I leaned on them for support and they did the

Same except tenfold it seemed. Then it happened. I had

returned home after five months to visit my only real love and

after coming back from that weekend, I unraveled at a rate

faster than a ball of twine being chased by a playful kitten. It

was as if the three legged table that I set everything on so

intricately balanced started to feel the weight of the world that

it was no longer able to carry alone. I was alone and I was far

away from any support that could have kept me teetering. I

nosedived and went into what I now know was the beginning

of post traumatic stress disorder. I was not in my mind

anymore. It was as if 1 was suspended into the nothingness of

the world that surrounded me and I fell apart. Bit by bit. Piece

by piece. Even though I new that I couldn’t be pregnant, I went

to the Dr. for a pregnancy test because I felt life moving within

me. What was happening though, was the surfacing of the life

that I had at once felt 12 years prior. It was absolutely amazing

the physical manifestation that was going on inside of me. I

went on line to find out how to [360] get my tubal ligation

reversed, and what the chances were of my actually being

pregnant even though I was unable to physically carry it out. I

had three very close friends within a two week period of time

tell me they were pregnant and only one chose to continue with

the pregnancy. The other two I begged and pleaded with,

telling them that I would do anything at all in order to help

them and I would even pack up and come home and take care

of their babies in order to save them from death. They

declined. I was heartbroken and then, as soon as it was

decided, I could feel the literal deaths of these babies as I lay on

my couch groaning and crying in pain, even though I was

thousands of miles away, the connection was so strong. I found

l4a

myself in the shower bawling and grieving for these babies that

were not allowed to live. It was a part of the journey that |

needed to go through in order to reconcile my losses. [t took a

long time to get to the point of actualization. More trips home,

and more of my mind lost, I couldn’t make a decision ty stay or

come home. Finally all of it came to an abrupt end an¢ | found

myself after returning from a weekend in Minnesota, at home

in my apartment in Washington and trying to get focused on the

neglected tasks that came from overwork and too much travel.

There was a knock on my door and it was a neighbor that |

didn’t know but had seen and he took advantage of my jj] state

of mind, I was vulnerable and it showed. The sense of

powerlessness that had been so natural to me by ther was on

it’s way to becoming another violation at the hatds of a

predator. I was drugged and sexually assaulted by this man. It

was the earthshattering pinnacle of what sent me into ahospital

for sanity and recovery. I was definitely goins home.

Obviously there are some details that could be included,

however I think if you look at this from a higher jeve] of

comprehension, it would be safe to say that I allowej myself

out of a state of desperation to be at the hands of one or many

that could and did wreak havoc on my life. A patern that

seemed to be congruent with the rest of my life die to my

inability to stand up and strong in situations that seenied to be

out of my control. I relate all of this directly to my abortions.

Sure there are other dysfunctional symptoms that surpoynted

from my life experiences, however I know without a dyybt that

there is a deep connection to my lack of stability dye to my

twisted state of mind even though to many I came icrogs as

having it all together. I came home to a place that reminded me

of everything that I had ever done wrong in my life anc decided

that I needed to do something with those emotions tyagt | had

the natural gift of expressing. I wanted to act. Onc. again I

15a

was implanted with yet another seed of the hope of healing. I

didn’t know it at the time of course, however when I auditioned

for a play that depicted a woman’s remorse after the decision to

have an abortion, once again I was at the mercy of my emotions

that had controlled my life without them ever being exposed for

what they truly were. I was blessed with the excruciating task

of extracting each and every devastating effect that my

decisions had caused and the task was extremely painful

however I have been healed and I am so grateful for and to God

and His neverending quest of reaching out to me and allowing

me to come to terms of this life that involved 15 years of

harboring self hate and destruction. There is so much more to

my story and I would love to share it all with you for the

distinct purpose of halting this disgusting alternative to life.

[361]

I have read the above and foregoing statement and the same is

true and correct.

SIGNED this _10_ day of December, 2001.

Please use my

® full name. _/s/ Tammy Dempsey

O initials only. My signature evidences my

authorization to use this affidavit for

all purposes.

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO before me, the

undersigned authority, this_10 day of _December , 2001.

_/s/ Dani Pelzl

Notary Public

[672]

l6a

(Province)

The State of _ Manitoba _

County of Canada _

BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, on this day

personally appeared Shawna Jamieson (Print Name), who,

being by me duly sworn, upon oath, stated the following facts:

“T am over the age of eighteen years, and I am of sound mind

and competent to make this affidavit. I have personal

knowledge of the facts stated in this affidavit, and I do

solemnly swear, or affirm, that the following facts are true:

Tell approximately when and where your abortion

occurred: May 1985. Abortion Clinic in Grand Forks,

ND.

Were you adequately informed of the nature and

consequences of abortion, what it is, what it does? No.

It was very impersonal. The doctor asked for the money.

Approx. $275.00 and then had me lie on a table and

leave right after the procedure. I was only 16 years old.

Were you informed of any link between abortion and

breast cancer? No Have you had breast cancer?

Did anyone pressure you into have an abortion? No If

so, who?

How has your abortion affected you? It has damaged my

soul in a way that can never be healed. I was a young

scared girl who got pregnant at 16 years old. J

[672 cont’d]

How has your abortion affected others in your life? My

baer i ied when I told | hat I had

id if onl id] Iked about it, Mavbe thi

would have been different.

18a

7) Based on your own experiences, what would you tell a

woman considering an abortion? Having an abortion is

not the easy way out. You can run but you can’t hide.

8) Based on your own experience, what would you tell a

court that believes abortion should be legal? It’s easy to

hink that w ily killing babies. IJ 1 fel

[672 cont’d]

“T have read the above and foregoing statement and the same

is true and correct.”

®@ | want to tell my story.

I understand that someone will

contact me.

19a

®& You may use my full name. My signature evidences my

all purposes.

Print Your Full Name [redacted]

Address, City, & Zip

BELOW PORTION TO BE COMPLETED BY NOTARY:

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO before me, the undersigned

authority, this the 14" day of _January , 2003.

NOTARY PUBLIC _/s/ Dennis Alfred Smith

20a

[771]

AFFIDAVIT

The State of Texas

County of Bexar

BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, on this day

personally appeared TIFFANY ANN KRUSE PIERCE, who,

after being by me duly swom, upon oath, stated the following

facts:

“My name is TIFFANY ANN KRUSE PIERCE. I am over

the age of eighteen years, and I am of sound mind and

competent to make this affidavit. I have personal knowledge

of the facts stated in this affidavit, and I do solemnly swear, or

affirm, that the following facts are true:

I was seventeen in January of 1989 and three weeks away

from my eighteenth birthday at the time of my first abortion.

I can say without a shadow of a doubt that if parental consent

had been mandated by law back then, I would have been unable

to abort my child. I went to a clinic on San Pedro Avenue in

San Antonio, Texas. My doctor’s name was Santoscoy. I got

his name from another girl my age that had also had an

abortion.

When I first realized that I was pregnant, I was very afraid.

I first confided this information with my boyfriend. We made

a pact at that time that we would not share this knowledge with

anyone, especially our parents, until we had made a decision

about what we were going to do -- together. I kept my end of

the bargain but he ran home and told his parents. Not wanting

2la

themselves or their child to be responsible for my child or me,

they counseled him on how to persuade me to have an abortion.

He did so very convincingly. I was asked to think about all that

was before me in my life, graduation, college, career and all

that I had to lose by having a child. And of course, there were

my parents to think about. How would they deal with a single

pregnant daughter? I would be letting them down dashing all

of the dreams and aspirations that they held for my life. What

about him, what did I expect from him and out of him? Did I

really believe we were ready to be parents? Did I really want

to give up all the experiences and fun that lied ahead? I

guessed not.

I made an appointment on a weekday, Friday, I remember.

I had a friend’s mother write me an excuse note. I told her that

I had another friend that needed to have an abortion and that

she needed someone to go with her. She wrote me the note.

My boyfriend was also going to skip school and take me to my

appointment. We were going through this together after all,

just he and I. He never showed, so I drove myself to the clinic.

I parked my car, went inside, filled out the paperwork and

waited to take my pregnancy test.

I recall thinking about not going through with it at this point.

I was alone. I was scared. But, I didn’t want to let anyone

down. They called my name and handed me a cup into which

I was to urinate. I had already taken a home pregnancy test, so

I was certain of what the results would be. I went into the

bathroom, past many other girls, and did as I was told. I

remembering thinking to myself in the bathroom that there

were no “women” in the clinic beyond the nurses and the

receptionist, just girls. Soon, the nurse was telling me that my

test was indeed positive (no big surprise) and that I needed to

22a

follow her back to the counselor.

I was sat in front of a table that was already laid out with the

materials they were about to present to me. The counselor

asked if I understood that I was pregnant. Yes, I said. Than

she asked if I understood that I was here seeking an abortion.

Yes, I said. Then she began to explain to me that [772]

although I was approximately 12 weeks pregnant that what was

inside of me was nothing more that a small glob of flesh no

larger in diameter than a half dollar coin. It was not alive yet,

had no heartbeat or extremities. It was just a glob of flesh. She

went on to describe the procedure as not much more than a

DNC. She told me that I might feel some discomfort, but not

much pain. I would be given a local anesthetic and that should

more than ease any pain I might feel. She then showed me to

the dressing room and handed me a hospital gown, explaining

that the nurse would be back for me in a moment.

The rooms in the clinic were so cold. I remember shivering

while I sat there waiting for the nurse. Before long, she came

and got me and took me to the room where the doctor would

perform the procedure. She put my legs up in stirrups and we

both waited another minute or so for the doctor. When he

arrived, he said nothing to me as he prepared. Finally, he broke

the silence to say that I might feel a pinch and a slight sting as

he administered the local. I was given the local and then he

began the process. Not long into it, he turned on the pump. I

did not know vhat it was at the time. He inserted a hose, *

suppose, inside of me and began the pumping action. As I laid

there, half-naked, feet in stirrups, with no one to hold my hand

or ease my mind, I remember thinking that I was going to die.

I had never felt such pain, nor have I since. I thought my entire

insides were being sucked out. The counselor had left this

23a

information out of her description of the procedure. I just knew

I was going to die. God was going to kill me as I lied there.

That was my punishment for being this stupid. When is it

going to be over? When is he going to stop? I’m dying here

and he doesn’t even care. These were the things running

through my mind as I turned my head and to my horror saw the

pumping device, filled with the blood and parts of my baby.

What had I done? I guess the nurse saw the pain in my face.

She was kind enough to take my hand and tell me that it was

almost over. There was sadness in her eyes, too.

Afterwards, they took me to an area filled with cots and I

was able to “rest” until I was able to leave. They gave me juice

and a cookie, I guess to level off my blood sugar and left me

there, saying nothing to me from that point on. I was cramping

and bleeding profusely, something else the counselor had left

out about the procedure. I was given no pain medication of any

sort. I stayed maybe fifteen minutes and then got up and drove

myself to a friend’s house. School was out for the day, so she

was home. Knowing what I had been through that day, she

took me to another friend’s house where for the second time in

my life I got stoned (on marijuana). It temporarily relieved the

physical pain. Soon, my boyfriend came and picked me up.

I stayed at my boyfriend’s house that night. His parents were

out of town for the weekend, so I should have been able to get

some rest and sleep. It was just supposed to be the two of us.

Instead, he threw a party while I lay bleeding to death (I

thought) on his parent’s bed. It was a rough night. I was ina

house full of people, but I spent the night alone.

Saturday morning, I got up, cleaned up and went home.

From that point on, I went on as if nothing had happened to me.

24a

I held everything inside. No one important in my life could

know what I had done. It was to be secret forever, to death.

The walls began to build up inside. It was the only way to keep

my abortion a secret, to build walls. This was the first serious

lie I had ever told to my parents. We drifted apart inside my

heart but the facade never changed. They never suspected a

thing. I would never let them. The more emotion I felt inside

the more walls that went up to deal with them. Soon I wasn’t

feeling much of anything; the walls were now not just

emotional. I began to party quite a bit. I did some drugs, and

tried many others. I drank every weekend and the lies about my

lifestyle began to build walls upon walls upon walls, until I

couldn’t see over them anymore. I had lost myself.

Later that year, my sister came to me. She believed she was

pregnant and said she needed an abortion. I thought it was her

boyfriend’s but she had been gang raped. She didn’t tell me

that until many years later. I told her where to go but she

wanted me to go with her. I did. While at the clinic, a mother

of another sister’s friend saw me. She told her daughter, who

in turn told my sister. It did not take long [773] for her to

confront me. Not wanting to divulge the true nature of my

visit, I let her think she was right. For quite a while, she used

that information against me every time she wanted to borrow

my clothes or my car or my money.

Time went by and I was off to college. Not wanting to go

through another abortion, I had gotten on the pill with the

knowledge of my parents. The winters in Lubbock are cold and

like most everyone else there I got sick with what I though was

just a normal cold. It turned out to be strep throat. I went to

the college clinic and they put me on antibiotics. No one

explained to me that antibiotics lessen the effectiveness of the

25a

pill. I got pregnant again. It was the same time of year as the

last. I went to the same place, not knowing where else to go.

This time I told no one until the deed was done. I took care of

my “problem” over the Christmas/New Year break. The

second abortion did not emotionally traumatize me like the

first. The walls I had built were certainly doing their job.

Both of my pregnancies were from the same man, my

boyfriend. After the first pregnancy, our relationship changed

quite a bit. He had lost respect for me. He began cheating on

me and treating me badly. He also began drinking heavily on

a more regular basis. Looking back, I believe it was the

beginning of his spiral downwards toward alcoholism. He has

been sober now for about six years.

Well, it is 1991 now. I moved to Colorado to get away from

the destructive relationship I was in with my boyfriend. He

followed me there. It was very easy to fall back into old

patterns with him. They were familiar and my self-esteem and

self-worth issues wouldn't allow me much better. In April of

that year I moved home to get away from him. Yet again, he

came back to visit once. We slept together and bingo, I was

pregnant once again. This time I made a different decision. I

was going to have the baby. Out of respect for his role in the

conception, I called to let my boyfriend know that I was

pregnant, again and this time I was having he or she and “NO!”

he did not have a say in what I was about to do with my body.

He accepted the news rather well, I thought and said he was

going to come home to be with me, soon. He did not come

soon.

I told my mother I that I thought I was pregnant in the food

court of our local mall. She took me in her arms and loved me

26a

as only a mother could with forgiveness already in her eyes.

We went to the closest pharmacy to get a test, so that we could

make sure. Once we were home, | felt the need to purge as we

waited for the results. I told here everything, each and every

bit. I broke those walls that had been building inside of me for

so long down, one by one that afternoon, until there was

nothing left. We cried together and she held me tight as I

revealed to her a side of her daughter that she had never known

existed. When I was finished confessing, we went into the

bathroom to check the results. I knew before I even took one

step into that room that the test was positive. Having been

pregnant twice before, I knew the feeling of being pregnant

quite well.

We decided to make me a doctor’s appointment to confirm

our findings. The appointment was three days away. We

would wait to tell my father and sisters until after the

appointment. I made it one day. Without all those walls built

up inside my emotions were no longer in check. The guilt of

not sharing this possibility with my father was overwhelming.

I called him at his office and asked if I could come in with my

little sister and my mother. We drove to the office, sat down

around his conference table and I looked at him with tears in

my eyes and said, “Daddy, I’m pregnant”. He just smiled at me

and exclaimed, “Thank God, we get to go to Disneyland!” He

got our pastor on the phone and we all prayed together. My

pastor told me every birth, every single one, was a miracle of

God and worthy of thankfulness and love. My love for those

two men grew abundantly that day.

During the beginning of my prenatal care, I found out that I

had type A negative blood. The abortion clinic never tested me

and I could have very well bled to death without being given a

27a

shot after each of my abortions. It was only by the grace of

God that nothing ever happened to me. It was during [774] this

time period that I saw what a fetus actually looks like at twelve

weeks. The picture was quite different of the one shown to me

at the clinic. In fact, a baby at the gestation age of twelve

weeks has a brain complete with brainwaves, a heartbeat,

appendages, fingers, toes and light/dark sensitive functioning

eyes. To say the least, this information was quit[e] shocking to

me since I had been told that this lump of flesh in no way was

qualified to be called human life.

It wasn’t long until the news of my pregnancy met my

boyfriend’s parents. Once again they took what was in their

opinion a proactive role on behalf of their son. In a hotel room

in South Bend, Indiana, my boyfriend’s (who was an ex by this

time) father tracked my father and I down. He and my father

were having a heated telephone discussion when suddenly my

father handed me the phone telling me that he wanted to speak

with me now. When I said hello, he began to explain to me

that if I did not agree to, at the very least, give this baby up for

adoption or preferably have another abortion that he was going

to tell my father everything about my life. I had already told

my dad about my old lifestyle but my Mother and I had decided

against telling him about the abortions. I put the phone down

and covered the mouthpiece with my hand and told my father

the rest of my story. He began to weep and blame himself for

my bad decisions. He took the phone out of my hands and told

my ex-boyfriend’s father that under no circumstances were we

going to abort or give this baby away. So, he told on me. At

which time my father said to him, “I already know all the facts

and that doesn’t affect our decision in the least”. My father

went on to say that we wanted nothing from anyone in their

family and that I, with my family’s help, would raise this baby

28a

on my own. The ex-boyfriend’s father then beganto insist on

marriage. This, too, my father denied him. I was \ery blessed

to have such a forgiving and loving and merciful finer

When I was about seven months along, the ¢:_boyfriend

came back. I was already a different person by hen | lost

most of my “friends” when I decided to have my baby | was

also quite reckoned with the fact that I was about t, pecome a

single mother. And most importantly, I had give, my life to

Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. I was no longe- the weak-

minded, drug-induced, no self-esteem girl that I hac once heen.

I was confident and strong. This did not abide wa) with him

since he was still knee deep in the party life style.

From the beginning, things were rough and by te time our

child was eighteen months, he had enough and sohigy) He left

and went back to Boston, Massachusetts (which ; where he

was originally from) to live with his mother. His ts are

divorced. His father and stepmother lived in San antonio at

the time and his mother in a suburb of Boston. He wa. now a

raging alcoholic in the very essence of the meaning \rine word.

More than once, he tried to drink himself to death.

About this time, I began to feel very depressed. Thad a lot

of guilt concerning my abortions, as well as sham(_ | pecame

suicidal. The only reason | did not kill myself we, my child.

As God always does, He got me through. Tine went by

quickly, as it tends to when you become a parent My child

was soon turning three. One day while driving), je from

work and preschool, she turned to me and said wi}, authority

and wisdom, “Mommy do you remember those fir) two times

you didn’t have me. Jesus and I cried for you in yoaven and

we just want you to know how happy we are th we are a

29a

family. We love you and forgive you.” Watching her say this

to me with my raouth gaping open, I then asked her, “What did

you say”? She then replied, “You know what I said and what

Imean. We forgive you and we love you.” God spoke through

my child to me to not only tell me that I was forgiven and that

He loved me but also that this child was truly intended for me.

Not long before this, my ex-boyfriend had hit rock bottom

and joined AA. Through AA, he, too, found Jesus. He called

my father and they said the sinner’s prayer together. From that

point forward, he began to call our child at least once a week.

He also began to badger me about giving him a second chance.

One year later, I did. Today we are married and a complete

family. [775]

Just before our wedding, God completely healed me of my

post-abortion emotions. He also has used to me to reach other

women with His message of complete forgiveness and mercy

and, of course, grace. I have had the chance to counsel women

dealing with their post-abortion emotions. In most cases

(excluding some rape victims), these women all wish they

could have the chance to make the decision over again. The

pain and shame of abortion changes a woman like nothing else

could. It makes her weak and it makes her hate herself in the

end. Time does not heal the wounds of an abortion. It makes

them worse. The only healing that I have found true for such

despair is God. He too, lost his Son and understands the loss

that these women feel once they have time to reflect upon what

they have done and the price they paid for temporary freedom.

Abortion creates an emotional prison for ‘hose that have

experienced it, firsthand.

Without God, I shudder to think of where I might be today.

30a

He has made me whole again. I no longer feel shame or guilt

but I do still feel remorse. If I could go back and do it all over

again, I would have had my child, the first time. If I could go

out everyday and counsel women who were about to make the

same mistake that I made, I would tell them of not only the

physical pain that they will truly endure, but also the emotional

pain, for it lasts much longer. I feel deep empathy for the

women who have chosen abortion and live with the horrifying

emotions that go hand in hand with that decision, who never

find their loving Father in Heaven. I’ve lived with the regret

and the shame. I’ve lived each day figuring the age of my dead

children and imagining their faces, bodies, hair color, eye color

and their personalities. It’s only been the grace of God that’s

allowed me to live free of such things.

I was a Christian, raised in a Christian home by good, loving

parents. I was a straight A student. I was a well adjusted

teenage who was responsible and very rarely lied especially to

my parents. I was a leader among my friends and to my sisters.

I was someone who did not do drugs or ever drink in excess.

I was a good person who always followed the rules until I had

an abortion.”

“T have read the above and foregoing statement and the same

is true and correct.”

SIGNED this the 13" day of September, 2000.

'/ Tiffany Ann Kruse Pi

TIFFANY ANN KRUSE PIERCE

Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO BEFORE ME, this the

3la

13". day of September, 2000.

/_Enr Acui

NOTARY PUBLIC In and for

TEXAS

32a

[992]

The State of Nevada __

County of Clark _

BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, on this day

personally appeared Christian M. Orgley (Print Name), who,

being by me duly sworn, upon oath, stated the following facts:

“T am over the age of eighteen years, and I am of sound mind

and competent to make this affidavit. I have personal

knowledge of the facts stated in this affidavit, and I do

solemnly swear, or affirm, that the following facts are true:

1) Tell approximately when and where your abortion

occurred: May 1993 Newport DE _

2) Were you adequately informed of the nature and

consequences of abortion, what it is, what it does? NO!

! NO! NO! NO! NO! No! 'NO! NO! ‘NO!

1 NO! NO! NO! NO! No! 'NO! NO! 'NO!

NO! NO!

3) | Were you informed of any link between abortion and

breast cancer? NO Have you had breast cancer? NO

4) Did anyone pressure you into have an abortion?

Indirectly If so, who? My parents told me if] ever got

6) artur gud csratirrcta guar My

7) Based on your own experiences, what would you tell a

woman considering an abortion? Even if it’s rape -- give

the baby up for adoption. If it’s incest pray about it. _

8) Based on your own experience, what would you tell a

court that believes abortion should be legal? Explain to

“I have read the above and foregoing statement and the same

is true and correct.”

Yes! & I want to tell my story.

I understand that someone

will contact me

& You may use my My signature evidences my authorization

full name to use this affidavit for all purposes

34a

Print Your Full Name [redacted]

Address, City, & Zip

BELOW PORTION TO BE COMPLETED BY NOTARY:

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO before me, the

undersigned authority, this the 31 day of _JAN

2003.

NOTARY PUBLIC _/s/ Lillian R. Wouters _

(993)

The State of Nevada __ §

County of Clark _

Before me, the undersigned authority, on this day personally

appeared Christian Marie Ongley (Print Name), who, being by

me duly sworn, upon oath, stated the following facts:

My name is Christian Marie Ongley (Print Name). My

address is [redacted]. I am over the age of eighteen years, and

I am of sound mind and competent to make this affidavit. I

have personal knowledge of the facts stated in this affidavit,

and I do solemnly swear, or affirm, that the following facts are

true:

I grew up in a dysfunctional family. My dad sexually abused

me for a fairly long time. Not until I realized he was hurting

my sister in the same way did I decide to tell on him. However,

it had stopped by the time I was 17; probably because I had a

boyfriend with whom my parents found out I was having sex.

Both my parents told me if I got pregnant they would kick me

35a

out. Like most young kids I didn’t think I would get pregnant

so I didn’t think I had a reason to worry about being kicked out.

One evening I forced my boyfriend to talk to me about it. The

issue had to be pressed; he didn’t want to talk about the

possibility that it could happen. In a matter of seconds, we both

agreed that an abortion was the course of action we would take.

Little did I know... . .

On morning I woke up and felt nauseous as I rolled myself

out of bed. I’m not sure how long it took me after this but my

boyfriend bought me a pregnancy test, which left me unsure

because the color was purple instead of pink as the directions

said it would be. So I went back and purchased another one.

This time I knew it was positive. It’s “funny” how everything

changed for me emotionally. Suddenly, I didn’t want an

abortion; it didn’t seem as flippant and unimportant as it was

made out to be. But I had to get one. What else could I do? I

didn’t want to get kicked out; and I didn’t think my boyfriend

would have anything to do with me if I had to go through it.

We had the day of the abortion planned out -- to keep it a

secret from everyone. The Saturday of the abortion my

boyfriend had baseball tryouts and thought he had the chance

to be a starter. So I told my parents that me and his friend were

going to follow him in the bus to tryouts. So the day of the

abortion, his friend drove me to ~ ¢ clinic. It was pretty early

in the morning. I don’t even 1s ember getting ready. The

abortion experience was worse than being abused. I sat there

in the waiting room which was smaller than I expected desiring

to leave -- so desperately! But I felt trapped and alone. After

sitting for about 45 mins., at least, I was taken into the office

connected to the little lobby where I handed the man the cash

for the “procedure.” Then, I was ushered to the same room

36a

again to wait even longer. Eventually, I was taken in to another

room where the lady explained that I would get changed into a

hospital gown. I don’t remember much else said. It was a short

meeting. I wasn’t told about any risks involved or the specifics

of what the “doctor” would do. From that room I was led down

the short hall to an open waiting room -- much smaller -- on the

left side where I changed into the gown behind a cloth dressing

room. In what seemed like HOURS later, I was finally taken

into a room with a doctors/hospital examining OB/GYN table.

I think I remember being injected with something inside of me

to cause numbness; but I’m not sure. Then I hear a very loud

vacuum noise & the most immense, intense pain I have ever

felt. The “procedure” lasted about 5 mins., probably. I was

given some pink stuff to drink -- antibiotic I think. Then about

1 hr later I was discharged and still in a lot of pain. From the

time I walked in the door to the time I walked out, I probably

spent at least 5 hrs. there. I suffered the most emotionally. |

hated myself, hated what I did & wanted my baby back! I

know and still believe I'd of had a girl. It was the most bitter

and depressing time of my life. No anguish can compare. Ill

carry the scar with me for the rest of my life; even though I

know I’ve been forgiven by God. There are days when I have

to forgive myself all over again. Now I have twins -- boy &

girl. I was so anguished I purposefully got pregnant when I was

19. They were born in °95 & will be 8 on March 19. I worry

that when my husband & I want to try for our own that I won’t

be able to. Des & Eric (twins) are not his biological children.

We pray that we will be blessed with 3 healthy children. After

all God is so gracious & merciful & forgiving as shown me by

my twins.

37a

[994]

Please use my: ® full name.

/s/_ Christian Marie Ong]

O initials only. My signature evidences my authority to

use this affidavit for all purposes.

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO before me, the

undersigned authority, this day of 31" _, 2003.

/s/ Lillian R. Wouters _

Notary Public

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.