It seems commonplace for another tragic abortion story to make the news cycle, like Sally Field and Lisa Marie Presley’s experience. Though these stories don’t surprise Students for Life of America (SFLA) since we’ve continuously warned of abortion’s common physical and mental dangers, it doesn’t make them any less tragic. However, many men and women are brave enough to share their testimony, whether they were almost aborted themselves, had an abortion, or survived an abortion. 

READ: Abortion Lovers Say Children Destroy Economic Success: Teenage Mom Turned Doctor Says Otherwise, And So Does the Data 

In the case of Priscilla Hurley, she survived an abortion, had an abortion, and worked in the abortion industry. And now, she’s on a journey of forgiveness and healing, helping other women through the organizations “And Then There Were None” and “The Abortion Survivors Network” and embraces the role of mom to three children and grandma to 11 grandchildren.  

Hurley’s journey started at a young age while still in the womb. Her mother opted for an elective D&C abortion when she was only three and a half months pregnant with Hurley, but thankfully, Hurley survived. However, the trauma followed her throughout life, leading her to have two abortions of her own at 19 and 25 years old.  

“It was not legal yet federally, it was legal in California, but it was under a general anesthetic,” she said. “I had no conscious memory of it, but I went into the hospital pregnant, came out not pregnant again. I was really devastated as I look back,” Hurley exclusively told Fox News Digital.  “It was devastatingly painful because it was a local anesthetic, the popular procedure done surgically, but with a vacuum aspiration, so you’re conscious, you’re awake, and I realized at that point that something really devastating had occurred…I was traumatized and wounded, and I was acting out in rebellious ways I went back to college and my life kind of got out of control at that point, really out of control.” 

Her abortion experiences led her down a dark path, working at an abortion facility for three years in San Francisco that took overflow patients from Planned Parenthood. It wasn’t until a near-fatal car crash that she had a divine intervention, became a Christian, and did a 180 on her life.  

“One of the responses to trauma is the submission to authority,” Hurley told Fox News. “As an abortion survivor, there’s always that layer of, ‘I’m not seen, I’m not valued’ where you don’t really think your voice matters. I finally found my voice at the age of 30, and I decided to have my son.” 

Hurley’s abortion redemption story continues to inspire and help others but also holds another critical point: support for pregnant women remains crucial to women choosing life. Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) reported, “Nearly 70% of women with a history of abortion describe their abortions as inconsistent with their own values and preferences, with one in four describing their abortions as unwanted or coerced, according to the study published in the medical journal Cureus.” 

However, according to CLI’s Unwanted Abortion study, a key finding revealed that “60% would have preferred to give birth if they had received either more emotional support or had more financial security.” 

Hurley confirmed this finding in her own story, discussing how the lack of support led her and her mother to choose abortion. She stated to Fox News:  

 “When you think about what my mom went through, the decision she made to have an abortion, the trauma that brought on to her life, the trauma it brought on to my life before I was even born … my mother, she had nobody to talk to about it, and yet she participated in taking the life of her other child and mine, potentially.” 

LEARN MORE: Almost Aborted | Pressured but not Persuaded 

Sadly, abortions bring regret and consequences, whether physical or mental, into a woman’s life, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. Hurley, like many women who’ve had abortions, found a way to heal and help others heal or choose life for their children. This summer, SFLA launched the Almost Aborted campaign, which shared the stories of those who decided not to abort or survived an abortion, encouraging others to embrace the value of every life. Hurley proves it’s never too late to embrace life and use difficult experiences and regretful decisions for the good of others.  

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