Showing posts with label Angela Grogg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Angela Grogg. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 29, 2016

I'm One of Three and I Disagree! by Angela Grogg

Today I stumbled upon an article from The River Front Times discussing the barriers that the State of Missouri has for women seeking abortions. As a Missourian and a post-abortive woman, I take great exception with this glossed-over attempt to paint abortion as nothing more than an afterthought. Alison Dreith suggests that a woman who seeks an abortion does not need time to reflect or think, they "just need it.” 

 I fought for the 72-hour waiting period and even went to the State Capital to speak about my own abortion experience. I find it insulting that she can so casually dismiss the loss that I and millions of women experienced because of abortion. Yes, there is shame, there is loss, and there is a lifetime of emotional pain involved with abortion. It's not isolated -- it is widespread and the norm. This is the ugly little secret that the pro-abortion supporters don't want to talk about.  

Missouri is not restricting women from having abortions. The 72-hour waiting period is designed to provide the woman time to reflect and ensure she is making a truly informed decision. It is there so she does not feel pressured and offers her time to seek other alternatives if she so chooses. The thing that Ms. Dreith is missing is, once that decision is made, there is no going back. There is no returning to the clinic and having the baby magically placed back in our wombs. This is a decision that deserves, at the very least, 72-hours. 

 Let's be real here. This is not a decision to be taken lightly, we are talking about a life. No matter which side of this issue you are on, we can all agree that a life is being taken. Why does the 72-hour wait scare the pro-aborts so badly? Is it that they care more for the woman? No. Sadly, they know if they let those women go, then there's a chance they won't come back, and they will lose that money. It is about the money.

I received my abortion at Hope Clinic in Granite City, Illinois. My experience at that clinic was vastly different from the experience described by Ms. Dreith.  At first, they appeared very caring and genuinely concerned for me, but when I entered the abortion room, things changed. As I laid there and cried uncontrollably, the nurse kept telling me to "shut up" and the doctor repeatedly told her to get me under control. I can still remember the bruises on my shoulders from being held down. I was screaming that I wanted my baby and that I did not want to go through with the abortion. I had changed my mind, but it did not matter -- they were going to do it anyway. 

 I also remember every girl in the recovery room. There were no casual conversations or discussions, no smiles, no laughter. No plans were being made for BBQ's later in the day or week. A heavy cloud of death permeated the room and the painful reality of our "choice" was slowly and permanently closing in on us. That is my memory of The Hope Clinic. 

 I was unable to walk out of the clinic.  My father carried me in his arms. The pro-life sidewalk counselors weren't screaming and they weren't "shaming” me. They were praying for my soul and the soul of my child.  And as I was entering the clinic, they understood the weight of my decision and what I was about to face.  Don't get me wrong -- the clinic did offer counseling; however, it was at an additional cost.

I now work within the pro-life world and I am very confused by Ms. Dreith’s vague comments concerning the “lies" that crisis pregnancy centers tell women. What are the lies? Why didn’t she name them? I can tell you first-hand that there are no lies being told. Crisis pregnancy centers are very careful to tell the truth. They tell these young girls and women that it is going to be challenging and at times hard. The difference, though, is an abortion clinic affirms these women's fears that they can't do it, that there is no hope, and that abortion is the only answer. They do everything they can to affirm to them that they will not make it unless they have the abortion.  

 Crisis pregnancy centers walk with these women. They don't leave them or abandon them when the baby is born. They are there as long as the woman needs support, providing a hand up. Crisis pregnancy centers fight for women, we give them the tools they need to make it in life and to give their babies life! 

 I went through a post-abortion recovery program totally free at a crisis pregnancy center. At no point in time did anyone ever try to shame me or condemn me for my "choice." The love and compassion I received and thousands of women every year receive did not come from Planned Parenthood -- it came from a pregnancy care center.

I respectfully ask every woman in the great State of Missouri who is facing an unplanned pregnancy to please go to the nearest pregnancy resource center and talk to the volunteers before ever entering a Planned Parenthood. The services are free; from pregnancy tests to STI testing, from post-abortive counseling to helping her choose an alternative to abortion. They are literally waiting to serve these women with love, understanding, compassion, and HOPE! I promise you that if you walk into one of these centers, you will leave with hope!


There may be one Planned Parenthood which does abortions in our state but there are over 70 pregnancy resource centers which will give a woman all the love and support she needs during an unexpected pregnancy. Here is a link to all these abortion alternative centers in Missouri: https://ramahinternational.org/help-in-your-area/missouri/

BIO:  Angela Grogg is a founding member of Hope after Rape Conception and a pro-life speaker and blogger for Save The 1.  Her 14 yr old daughter conceived a son through rape.  Finding out early on that Missouri had no laws to protect rape victims and their children, she tirelessly lobbied to change that and on 8/28/12, SB 638 became law, protecting victims and their children from being victimized further by the rapist. Angela is also post-abortive. 
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Monday, June 1, 2015

President Signs Rape Survivor Child Custody Act Into Law! by Rebecca Kiessling

After passing the U.S. Senate 99 to 0, our model legislation from Hope After Rape Conception -- the Rape Survivor Child Custody Act (H.R. 1257) -- was signed into law by President Obama on Friday!  Our co-founders from HARC, Shauna Prewitt and Analyn Megison worked very hard on this, working closely with House sponsor  Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D) and Senate sponsors Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) and Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R).

The Act provides an incentive to states to pass legislation providing for a means to terminate the parental rights of rapists, using the "clear and convincing evidence” standard from the U.S Supreme Court case of Santosky v Kramer.  25% of the grant funds are to be allocated to the STOP Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program, and 75% of funds go to the Sexual Assault Services Program.  The text of the Act reads that it:  "Directs the Attorney General to make grants to states that have in place a law that allows the mother of any child that was conceived through rape to seek court-ordered termination of the parental rights of her rapist with regard to that child, which the court shall grant upon clear and convincing evidence of rape."
 
In Analyn's home state of Florida, she got the legislature to pass this legislation unanimously, which is how Wasserman-Schultz heard of our model legislation.  Several states are currently working to pass this law, including Michigan and Maryland, while some states' legislation, like Pennsylvania, are insufficient because those bills require a rape conviction. 
 
Both Shauna and Analyn had to fight their rapists for custody.  Shauna is a practicing attorney who I met when I spoke at Georgetown Law while she was attending.  Analyn is a law grad too.  
 
Another board member, Angela Grogg, has been working on getting our model legislation passed in many states, ever since her family endured a court battle fighting her 14 year old daughter's rapist for custody.  
 
Several members of Save The 1 who were conceived in rape suffered molestation by their rapist fathers because they were not protected by law, including Darlene Pawlik and Rowena Slusser.  Other women from our organization, such as Robyn McLean and Darlene Pawlik's mom, were repeatedly raped as their rapist used contact with the child to continue raping her.  As you may expect, women associated with our organization are celebrating as this news came out!
 
We encourage every pro-life organization to get behind this legislation, as Right to Life of Michigan is currently championing this bill.  Not only is it pro-life in effect -- because pregnant rape victims will be more likely to choose life if they know they'll be protected from the rapist, but you'll be able to demonstrate that you really care about these women and their children, and you'll also have the advantage of seeing rape survivor mothers testifying before the legislature at a time when legislators walls are down. Just think of how powerful it is for rape-exception legislators and pro-choice legislators to hear the testimonies of these rape survivors and the love they have for their children -- just wanting them to be protected. 
 
Only a couple of states have this clear and convincing evidence standard, and many states still have nothing at all.  With this new law from Congress, it's the perfect time to begin working with your state legislators to properly protect rape survivor mothers and their children.
 
BIO: Rebecca Kiessling is an attorney and national pro-life speaker who was conceived in rape.  She's the president and founder of Save The 1 and co-founder of Hope After Rape Conception.
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Friday, December 19, 2014

Our Grandson -- the Light in the Darkness After Our 14 Year Old Daughter Was Raped by Angi Grogg


Four years ago, I was going through life like I had it all figured out -- perfect family, perfect job, perfect home.  Our proud military family was living the American dream -- we had it all.  On December 21, 2010 -- the darkest day of the year, everything changed for us as a family.  Little did we know our lives were forever transformed or what that ill-lighted date would come to represent.

Mother’s Day 2011 -- the memory of that day is so surreal.  It is the day I found out our 14 year old daughter Pyper had been raped by an 18 year old soldier and was pregnant as a result.  There was no going back to our perfect life, and this would be the first of many painful days for our family.

Our family has experienced too many low points over the past four years to count.  For me, the hardest is a reoccurring nightmare which happens around the same time every year in December.  Invariably, over the past three years, instead of making holiday plans, we found ourselves reacting to or reeling from some event resultant from that day in December, 2010.

In December, 2011, while joyous over the birth of our grandson Noah a few months before and looking forward to his first Christmas, we were haunted by the circumstance surrounding his conception and the fear of what the future held for us.  The process of reporting the rape to the military and civilian authorities and the investigation into happened to Pyper was in its infancy, so the wounds were still fresh.  It seemed that everything and everyone was against us.  Our friends and family questioned our choices, they blamed my husband and I for what happened, and some even abandoned us because they just couldn’t process it.  In fact, our church family urged that it would be better if we didn’t make a big issue of it -- just ignore the 800 pound gorilla in the room. 

As 2012 progressed, the fight to right Pyper’s wrong intensified.  In December, 2012, we were facing one of the most daunting tasks of our lives.  No one could have prepared us for the horrors of what we were about to endure, which included a defense attorney suggesting to our daughter that she wasn't really raped because she failed to abort.  We spent the week preceding December 21st sitting in a military courtroom half-way across the country praying that our ordeal would end.  It didn’t.  What prosecutors told us should have been a slum-dunk case involving not only forcible rape, but strict liability statutory rape, inexplicably ended in a 3-3 hung jury.  In the military, this means the rapist is acquitted.  On the 21st -- that same dark date, we found ourselves packed inside a minivan, in shock and disbelief, driving a thousand miles to get back home. 

Our situation was about to get worse, as our grandson Noah was in danger.  In response to our daughter pressing charges, the rapist's attorney had filed for custody.  We'd been warned that this was a common strategy, and with the failure to obtain justice in the criminal trial, the stage had been set for a bitter custody battle in civil court.
  
Over the next twelve months, we were hit with a deluge of court documents and besieged by harassment and threats.  Each day brought a new fear -- the distress was consuming, but as our days grew darker, our resolve grew stronger.  There was no way we were going to give up!  December, 2013 found us sitting in a different courtroom, in a different town, over the same dark days as the past three years.  This time it wasn’t about right and wrong -- we were fighting for our very lives; we were fighting for Noah.  Expending every fiber of our being, down to our last breath, we battled for our precious little boy.  This time, the outcome would be different. 

On the day the court’s decision came in, we didn’t celebrate. Instead, we passed the day in reverent silence with just a few calls to the family and friends who remained.  The freedom from our tormentors was final in March, 2014, and we slowly began to regain some of what we lost; to find our new normal. 

As December, 2014 clicks by, we still find ourselves looking over our shoulders, watching and waiting; paying close attention to what is happening around us.  Our enemy is silent, but we remain vigilant; ready to fight hell itself to protect our “hand-picked” angel.  We have our little Noah -- our gift, our daughter's beauty from the ashes.

My husband has this to offer, "There is nothing that can sufficiently prepare you for the trials you face.  Although there are many horrible things that could happen, the present conflict is always the worst.  What happened yesterday is past, tomorrow is not here, focus on today and no matter what you are up against, keep pressing forward.  As a parent or grandparent, you have to stay strong and fight with an unbridled tenacity because at the end of the day, next to God, your family is all that matters."

It has been by God’s mercy and grace alone that we are where we are.  He has taken an act of iniquity and turned it into an act of goodness to bring glory to His name.  Our grandson is the ark that carried our family through our darkest days.  He has been and is the light in the darkness; the anchor given to us by God to hold us firm in our faith.


BIO:  Angi Grogg is a wife of 20 years and mother of four.  She's the co-founder and a Board Member of Hope After Rape Conception, and a national pro-life speaker and blogger for Save The 1.
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