What is an abortion survivor?

There are answers, help, and hope for abortion survivors. You don’t have to walk alone.

Babies can survive abortions.

An abortion survivor is a person who remains alive after an attempted abortion failed to end his or her life. Survivors may have developmental struggles, damage to organs or other vitals, missing limbs, or scarring. While abortion was legal under Roe v. Wade, 85,817 babies survived abortions.

One survivor recounted, “I was devastated when I found out I had survived an abortion. My first reaction was fear, followed by anger that I turned on myself. I felt guilty about my own survival and ashamed of who I was. God’s grace transformed my anger to grief, for myself and for the woman who had carried me. For me, grief led to forgiveness, and its fruit has been love.

There was a time when I was afraid of the unknown, paralyzed by anxiety. I tried to control what I could rather than face what I could not. That time has passed. I don’t hide my scars anymore, but wear them proudly, for they are a sign that God heals.” —You Carried Me: A Daughter’s Memoir by Melissa Ohden (p. 164).

The following video contains powerful testimony from another abortion survivor named Gianna Jessen: