# Amicus Curiae Brief — Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood

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URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/brief%3Amicro_IA40385016_0074%3A06

## Record

- **Collection:** Supreme Court brief
- **Document type:** Amicus Curiae Brief
- **Published:** January 1, 2006
- **Citation:** 546 U.S. 320

## Text

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,

Ve

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

Il. THE HARMS RESULTING FROM
SUBJECTING MINORS TO SECRET
ABORTIONS JUSTIFY A STATE NOT
ADOPTING AN OPEN-ENDED

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

B.

F.

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 .............. /

9

16

19

21

22

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

iv

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

v

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

— —

1

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

2

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...)

5

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.

6

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

7

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).

8

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

10

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...)

1]
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)

12

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

13

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).

14

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

15

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).

16

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

17

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

18

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 --

19

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,

20

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.

21

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

22

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

23

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

la

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)

2a

[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.

3a

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

4a

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

Sa

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

7a

[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.

8a

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

9a

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:

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

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]

6)

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

© Do not contact me. _/s/ Shawna Jamieson __

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

© Please use only my initials. authorization to use this affidavit for
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

5)

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
© Donotcontactme. § _/s/ Christian Ongley
& 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

A

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

---

Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/brief%3Amicro_IA40385016_0074%3A06. Public record. Not legal advice.