By: Canon Georgette Forney

I recently received a phone call from a woman who contacted the Silent No More Awareness Campaign to say ‘thank you’ for helping her face the truth of her abortion experience. She had seen two women at a March for Life event carrying the “I Regret My Abortion” signs associated with the Silent No More Awareness Campaign. She told me that the words on the signs jolted her out of years of denial, and while she was having a hard time on the phone saying the word, abortion, she recognized that she needed help as her abortions had negatively impacted her life over the last 30 years.

After I hung up the phone, I wept tears of joy for God’s grace, as He continues to use the Silent No More Awareness Campaign in people’s lives. I have lost count of the number of phone calls, just like that one, that I have been privileged to receive from women who have found hope and healing after years of silent grief and guilt.

The Campaign began 20 years ago when Janet Morana, Executive Director of Priests for Life, and I launched it on November 11, 2002. Anglicans For Life and Priests for Life continue to co-sponsor the Campaign and provide the financial and operational support that underwrites it. We have three simple goals:

• Reach out to people hurt by abortion, encourage them to attend abortion after-care programs, and invite those who are healed to break the silence and speak the truth about abortion’s negative consequences and the hope found in healing.
• Educate the public that abortion is harmful emotionally, physically, and spiritually to women, men and families, so that it becomes unacceptable for anyone to recommend abortion as a ‘fix’ for an unplanned pregnancy.
• Share our personal testimonies of hurt and healing to help others avoid the pain of abortion.

As of April 2022, the Silent No More Awareness Campaign has held 2,268 Gatherings in 17 countries across all 50 states with 6,926 women and men sharing their abortion testimonies. Testimonies have also been shared at 174 high schools and universities in the last 12 years. 

We have 3,045 testimonies posted on the Campaign website, and 635 of those are shared via video! Currently, 20,380 people are registered with the Campaign, representing 77 countries. People who are not ready to join the Campaign, are invited to “register their regret.” So far, 6,729 women and 716 men have said they regret their abortion or lost fatherhood, and 612 women and men have posted memorials to their children. Silent No More is, by far, the largest mobilization of those who have lost children to abortion, have found healing, and want to share their stories.

In 2015, the Silent No More Awareness Campaign launched a special initiative called “Healing the Shockwaves of Abortion.” It is an effort within the Campaign that highlights how abortion wounds many groups of people, including siblings, grandparents, friends and the abortionists themselves. To learn more visit AbortionShockwaves.com.

I recently attended a Campaign event at the Pennsylvania March for Life where the women of Silent No More continued the tradition of sharing their testimonies at pro-life marches – it was the first one since the fall of Roe!

The tradition dates back to Nellie Gray who, upon hearing in 2003 that there was a new mobilization of moms and dads who had lost children to abortion, welcomed us to share our testimonies as part of the annual March for Life in Washington, DC. Nellie Gray knew that the day abortions cease, the process of healing would need to become the priority. That is why, as a “closing act” at the March for Life, she invited marchers to pause at the US Supreme Court and listen to the testimonies of those who were involved in abortion. Since 2003, we have continued the tradition, and it has even been adopted annually by the Walk for Life West Coast. 

We all know someone who has had an abortion, so I encourage you to visit the Silent No More Awareness Campaign website (SilentNoMore.com), share the powerful testimonies found at AbortionTestimonies.com, and pray for those hurting so that they will be healed, and more people can be silent no more!