My sweet son is here today because of the pro-life protections in my state, made possible by the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. In April of 2023, I learned I was unexpectedly pregnant. It was a shock because I had taken precautions to ensure I would not become pregnant, and, given an ongoing health issue, doctors believed I would likely not be able to become pregnant.
I had been seeing someone for a couple of months, but we had recently agreed to part ways. After learning I was pregnant, I reached back out to him, and we were both filled with shock and fear. I already had an 18-year-old son, and the man I was seeing had two children from a previous relationship, and of course, we were no longer together.
Without hesitation, he said I should have an abortion. I had always called myself pro-choice and had dear friends in my life who had multiple abortions. The concept of abortion never seemed to bother me, until I realized I would be aborting my own child. Despite that, I agreed, at his urging, to abort our child. The mere thought of it made me sick, and I could never schedule the appointments myself.
My home state of Kentucky permitted abortion when the life of the mother was at risk, and the neighboring state of Tennessee also had limits on abortion, meaning I would need to travel out of state.
We finally made an abortion appointment in Carbondale, Illinois, which would be a four-hour drive.
Due to family issues, I had to reschedule my first appointment. Because of various complications and unforeseen bumps, I would soon have to cancel my next two appointments as well. I had great fear and doubt about undergoing the procedure, but I was pressured to continue because I was being told that all the things I wanted for my relationship with my child’s father would come true if I had an abortion. I was told we could finally be together, and we could be happy. But he told me we “wouldn’t be able to love one another while also loving a child.” While I had agreed to the abortion, each cancellation came as a silent relief to me.
Pregnancy Center Visit
During this time, I secretly went to a pregnancy center to hear my baby’s heartbeat and learned that my child was a precious little boy.
As the weeks passed, my hesitation grew.
When I finally showed up for my appointment, I was told I was 14 weeks into my pregnancy and would need to take an abortion drug and then have a procedure to have my son removed from me. In that moment, all my worries and apprehensions came to a head. There was no way I was going to put myself through that. There was no way I could put my innocent baby through that.
Lack of Support
However, I knew that if I decided to continue my pregnancy, I would be raising my child as a single mother. So many women, like me, only consider abortion because of a lack of support.
After I left the abortion center I rushed to my OB-GYN’s office. This time, I would hear my son’s heartbeat not as a “goodbye,” but as a promise to protect him as long as I lived. I soon learned, however, that my son’s heart had a small hole in it, which would require surgery after he was born. Additionally, my sweet baby had omphalocele, a condition in which his organs were forming outside of his stomach. Despite this, I was never pressured by my doctors to abort him. They assured me that while there would be difficulties, they would do their best to treat my son.
I know now that this medical support and assurance was a gift that so many other women carrying children with disabilities do not get to experience and something that can likely be attributed to my state’s pro-life law. In too many instances, women are often met with doctors’ pressure to abort.
Great Purpose
In November of 2023, I gave birth to my beautiful baby boy, Oryan. Now, months later, he has had several medical procedures, but he is a fighter, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. His life is full of great purpose and worth, and his sweet face lights up my days. He enriches the lives around him, and we are all better off because of his presence.
I can say for a fact that if an abortion facility were in my own backyard, I would have succumbed to the pressure to end the life of my child. However, I’m proud to say, that is not our story. Thanks to my state’s pro-life protection, my baby boy is alive today, and his life has already made the world a much better place.
Melissa Brooks is a teacher and mother of two who resides in Tennessee.
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