Pro-Choice Catholic Testimony

My Catholic teaching was very anti-abortion to an extreme degree. But when I found out I was pregnant, I ignored all of that and immediately knew I wanted an abortion.

The nearest abortion clinic was over an hour and a half away. I didn’t have a car. I didn’t feel like I could ask anyone for help. But I was still very determined, and so I Googled “how to induce a miscarriage at home.” There were a ton of results, some more sound than others, and I tried all of them. I just sent a weird and probably very alarming message to one of my friends that was like, “Hey, if you don’t hear from me every half hour, can you send an ambulance to my apartment?” It wasn’t that I was in pain; I was just scared because I didn’t know what to expect. It ended up being about 48 hours. Looking back, I’m very proud of past me for going against what I thought was the be-all and end-all of Catholic teachings — that abortion is evil — and deciding to have one anyway.

My roommate was anti-abortion, and she’s also Catholic, but later I told her what happened, and she said, “Even though I’m anti-abortion personally, I would have driven you to a clinic.” And so even that makes it really clear that what my church taught as Catholicism is not Catholicism as a monolith. Not all Catholics practice Catholicism the same way, and not all Catholics are going to stand outside abortion clinics and yell at people seeking medical care.

My confirmation saint is St. Brigid, and I was confirmed by the now D.C. archbishop, Cardinal Wilton Gregory. Seeing his recent comments on abortion was very disappointing to me because he for a while has been one of the less problematic members of the clergy. Especially with some of his comments in support of LGBTQ people, I had been feeling kind of proud to have been from his archdiocese. I just I hope and I pray that Cardinal Gregory has a change of heart. I hope that he listens to members of his congregation who have spoken in support of abortion. I hope he softens his stance because all he is doing by stigmatizing abortion is pushing Catholics away. These violent messages against abortion are not going to bring unity to the Catholic church. There may be members of his congregation who are suffering because they feel like they have done something morally reprehensible, and they may not feel like they can talk to him about it. They may not feel like they’re welcome in his church, and that’s unacceptable.

People have this very strong idea that those who have abortions aren’t religious, but we know that that’s not true. Religious people have abortions all the time. Catholics have abortions all the time. The only reason that isn’t talked about more is stigma. It’s not that it’s not happening. It’s just that they have been forced into silence and forced to feel ashamed for so long.