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Susan N Gliko |
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Madam Chair and Members of the Committee, For the record, my name is Susan Gliko and I am a post-abortive woman who suffered for years with nightmares, panic attacks, flashbacks, extreme grief, shame and humiliation until I found help and healing at a Rachel’s Vineyard Retreat - one of the hundreds of post-abortion healing ministries. With your permission I would like to hand out copies of this written testimony to the members of the committee. I am speaking to you today on behalf of the Montana Catholic Conference, and as the coordinator for both Project Rachel and Rachel’s Vineyard Retreats under the ministry name of Rachel’s Hope - I am immersed in the realities of the aftermath of abortion, especially in Montana. Today I am asking you to protect our daughters of Montana by voting yes on HB321. In Montana in 2003 there were 9 abortions performed on girls in the age range of 12-14 and 180 abortions done on girls in the age range of 15-17. Statistics show that most underage girls are impregnated by adult men. This is statutory rape that needs to be reported. With the work I do, I hear many stories and I can attest to the reality that in Montana, we have had young 14 year olds walk into Planned Parenthood for an abortion with no parental involvement or knowledge – young girls with loving supportive families - choosing abortion out of fear – fear of disappointing their parents. Not all of these girls come from troubled abusive homes – some come from very loving supportive families. For example, the Zallie’s beautiful daughter underwent a secret abortion. She never revealed her situation or her solution to her family – the people whose love she needed so desperately. Shortly after the abortion, Stacy asked for psychiatric help, she ended therapy after only 3 months. Not long after, she took her own life. According to a “Teenage Pregnancy: Overall Trends and State-by-State Information” Report by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, Planned Parenthoods research arm – 40% of teen abortions take place with no parental involvement. Teens are 10 times more likely to attempt suicide if they have had an abortion in the last six months than are teens who have not had an abortion. The state of Montana now has a compelling reason to make Parental Notification constitutional. Planned Parenthood, Blue Mountain Clinic, NARAL, NAF and other pro-abortion supporters can no longer claim that Post-Abortion Syndrome was made up by anti-abortion groups and that there is no such thing as post-abortion syndrome. To support their claim they us a statement from the American Psychological Association which used to deny there was a connection with psychological problems caused from abortion. The American Psychological Association has recently withdrawn its official statement denying a link between abortion and psychological harm at the prompting of research done by Professor David Fergusson, a New Zealand researcher who supports abortion – research published in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry in January 2006. What Dr. David Fergusson found was that 42 percent of women who had abortions had elevated rates of subsequent mental health problems including depression, anxiety, suicidal behaviours and substance use disorders. This association persisted after adjustment for confounding factors, which means that even women without past mental health problems are at risk psychologically after abortion. Women having abortions had twice the level of mental health problems and three times the risk of major depression as those who had given birth or never been pregnant. Madam Chair and members of the committee. In conclusion, I am asking you to vote yes on HB321 – and support and protect our daughters in Montana – this is a very pro-woman thing to do. Thank You! http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2005.01538.x http://www.stacyzallie.org/home.htm
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Get the PDF to this testimonial here.