GUEST POST: When Jessa (Duggar) Seewald shared on YouTube earlier this year that she had suffered a miscarriage, the abortion-loving extremists of the internet were nothing short of gleeful. It was disgusting to watch headlines proclaiming that Seewald, who is outspokenly pro-life, was a hypocrite for having an “abortion.” Other grieving mothers are now speaking up about how these lies—from the media and from abortion activists in real life—hurt them and add to the pain and heartache of an already challenging situation. 

Other Mothers Speak Up 

Writing for the Federalist, Klara Muster shared her difficult miscarriage experience and how the mainstream media’s lies have contributed to her pain and the pain of other mothers who have lost a child. Muster shared, “I lost my baby to miscarriage four months ago and, like Jessa, needed a D&C to safeguard my health. Corporate and social media, as well as people I’ve talked with, insist I had an abortion, which makes me feel livid and broken-hearted.” 

As Students for Life of America previously reported, after Seewald announced her miscarriage, biased media called it a “life-saving abortion.” Elective abortion, which deliberately ends an innocent preborn life, cannot be “life-saving.” What is more, Seewald—and Muster and countless mothers like her—did not undergo an abortion but a procedure to manage a miscarriage, the unintentional and tragic loss of a preborn baby.  

After discovering that her preborn baby’s heart had stopped beating, Seewald had a dilation and curettage procedure (D&C) to remove the baby’s body and pregnancy tissue from the womb. Because she has a history of hemorrhaging, doctors did not want her to deliver the baby unsupervised. The procedure did not end a life, but rather cleaned out the uterus.  

To say otherwise to a grieving mother is either ignorant or cruel. 

Far from Alone 

Seewald, who starred on the Duggars’ hit television show “19 Kids and Counting,” is a now a celebrity face of miscarriage, but miscarriages are very common. The March of Dimes states, “For women who know they’re pregnant, about 10 to 20 in 100 pregnancies (10 to 20 percent) end in miscarriage.” In other words, there are countless women who have experienced what Seewald and Muster have and are listening to the same cruel lies. 

Organizations like Miscarriage Matters exist to help grieving parents mourn the loss of a child and find support. Acknowledging the life of the preborn baby is an important step for many parents in grieving the child they lost and finding healing. When the media ignores the life of the child and pretends that the miscarriage is an abortion, they inflict great harm. 

Many of the mothers who have suffered a miscarriage can relate to Muster’s experiencing of seeing a healthy, developing baby at one appointment and being blindsided by loss at the next. Seewald shared about her own miscarriage experience, “Nothing could prepare me for the weight of those words at that moment.” And I was so grateful at that moment that I hadn’t gone to the appointment by myself.” 

Twisting the Truth, Inflicting Harm 

There is a shred of truth distorted in the lies of the abortion industry. Muster notes, “The medical definition of abortion is the expulsion of pregnancy tissue, and this can happen spontaneously or deliberately. The colloquial definition, however, is different.” She added, “The first result on Google states that abortion is ‘The deliberate termination of a human pregnancy,’ which is exactly what almost everyone means when they declare they’ve had an abortion.” 

When a mother states that she has had a miscarriage, everyone knows that is different from an abortion. However, abortion activists have been trying to confuse the public for years. Muster wrote, “I adamantly oppose abortion and the violence that is perpetrated against women and their children. I also adamantly oppose women dying without life-saving medical care.” 

She continued, “D&Cs of a dead child are in no way the same as the violent realities of abortion that purposefully end the life of a child on the altar of convenience and ‘choice.’” 

In responding to the cruel headlines, Seewald explained that this was not her first D&C. Weeks after a previous pregnancy, Seewald underwent a D&C to remove tissue from a retained placenta, demonstrating that a D&C is, in fact, not the same as an abortion. 

Pro-life doctors have affirmed what Seewald and Muster have stated: treatment following a miscarriage is not the same as an abortion. Dr. Christina Francis, board member and CEO-elect of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) told Our Sunday Visitor, “In a move meant to manipulate the public, abortion proponents have attempted to equivocate miscarriage and abortion.” She added, “This is not only false but it also exploits the heartache that so many women and families have experienced through the loss of a child.” 

Pro-life organizations including SFLA have called on mainstream media outlets misrepresenting Seewald’s experience to apologize. We know that their lies hurt many other mothers, not just Seewald. 

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