The anonymous young woman who writes the new blog Just Love tells of seeking safety in the wrong place:
She walked into Planned Parenthood with two older friends. They were high school girls…they could drive. She looked up to them, so when she began having sex at age twelve, she knew she could talk to them about it. She sat down in an unfriendly waiting room and filled out some paperwork. Even though she knew she could lie about her age and name, she filled in the truth on every line. When she was finished with the papers, she was led back to a room and had her first pap exam. Then, she was shuffled into another room where she was asked, “What kind of birth control would you like to try?” She chose the pill, and she was given a years supply, along with a bag overflowing with condoms. It felt like a jackpot to her! “I can have all the sex I want, and it will be safe!” She thought to herself. Little did she know how wrong she was…It could have been me too, though I do not believe I will be haunted forever. For one thing, "forever" means after death. For another, although I can't take away the memories of what I put myself through, I believe that while the effects do not dissapear, they do lessen over time if one practices chastity, be it single chastity or marital chastity. The important thing is not to focus on the pain, but to ask God to make one a new person, even if one has to ask every day. His mercies are new every morning.
The staff never commented that she was quite young to be having sex. They never told her it was a better and safer choice to wait until marriage, or at least until she was older or more mature. They didn’t really explain that condoms failed and didn’t protect against diseases. They just gave her what she wanted and sent her on her merry way.
Five years and multiple partners later, that same girl became a Christian. She committed herself to purity until marriage. She was born again and washed clean. But the years of sexual relationships had taken their toll on her regardless. No, she hadn’t gotten pregnant. And amazingly, she had never even contracted an STD. But the emotional effects of sex outside of a safe, loving relationship (marriage) would haunt her forever.
You might have guessed that the little girl in this story was me.
Read the rest of the post, in which the writer ponders what would have happened if she had walked into a pregnancy-care center instead. There is a great deal of common ground between survivors of nonmarital sex and survivors of abortion; both have been sold a bil of goods. And don't miss the maxim at the post's end — words to live by.
