New York Times profiles a mother who is glad she didn’t get an abortion.

The New York Times recently published ‘I’m Not Ready’: A Mother Denied an Abortion in Texas Faces an Uncertain Future. A few notes:

Last year Tamara Nelson was a pregnant mother of three, denied an abortion under Texas’ restrictive laws.

1. We still have people almost daily tell us that abortion laws don’t stop people from getting abortions, but only drive them to get illegal abortions. Here is an example of a woman who did not abort because of an abortion law. There are dozens of studies finding abortion restrictions do decrease abortions.

2. People also continually accuse pro-lifers of not caring about children after they’re born, or about women at all, and caring only about control. Sometimes they claim that pregnancy resource centers exist not to support but to manipulate women into not getting abortions. Here is an example of a pro-life org helping a woman who wasn’t going to get an abortion either way, including moving her into an apartment and paying her living expenses for up to two years.

3. The Turnaway Study found that 96% of women who gave birth after being denied an abortion ended up saying they no longer wished they’d gotten the abortion (see “Emotions over five years after denial of abortion in the United States:” by Rocca et al). Here is an example of that phenomenon.

She said she was glad she did not have the abortion she had sought.

4. This is not to say there are no further issues. The program helping Nelson can help only a handful of women per year, and for a finite amount of time. There is a huge need to develop communities and families who can support moms with unplanned pregnancies. If you’re passionately pro-life but don’t resonate with political activism, consider connecting with pregnancy resource centers and/or local politicians and see what you can do to help fill the gaps in social safety nets. Also find more ideas at HowToBeProLife.com.