This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/bestofredditorupdates by /u/Johannes_Chimp on 2023-11-26 17:39:33.

---

I am NOT OP. Original post by u/ButterscotchRare447 in r/Catholicism

trigger warnings: rape, abortion, religion, emotional abuse

mood spoilers: sad

OP NOTE: A reminder to not harass the OOP or any commenters of the original posts.

---

 

My sister got an abortion and I can’t see her the same anymore - October 12, 2023

Hey everyone, I’m using my throwaway account for this because my main has a lot of personal information.

So around 2 weeks ago my sister got an abortion, and I can’t see her the same anymore. Awhile before that, her and I were at the dinner table with our parents and she started crying. She’d been kind of depressed the last few weeks but hadn’t talked about it until now.

She said that awhile back she had been at a house party with some of her friends and was sexually assaulted by a group of boys. She didn’t go into too much detail but she said that awhile after that she started to feel sick so she took a pregnancy test and it came back positive. She started sobbing and saying that she wanted to get an abortion, saying that she doesn’t want to give birth and that she’s been having nightmares about it.

Our parents suggested taking her to a therapist or pursuing legal action but they both refused to let her kill a child, which I agree with. My parents kept trying to discuss things what to do next but my sister wouldnt listen, she just kept sobbing.

For the next few days my sister really isolated herself. Every conversation she had with our parents eventually devolved into them trying to convince her to see a therapist while she begged (literally on her knees sometimes) for them to let her get an abortion. I tried talking to her and explaining that maybe the child is a blessing and that something good could come from all this. That just made her even more upset. She told me that she would rather kill herself than give birth to her rapists child. She said that it’s unfair, that she’s only 16, and that she doesn’t understand why this is happening to her.

A few days later she came to my parents and told them that she got an abortion. Apparently one of her “friends” had driven her to a place where she could kill the child. Our parents were furious and yelled at her for what she did. She begged them to forgive her and said that it was her only choice. (Which is ridiculous, our parents literally tried to give her other options but she still chose to kill a child)

Our parents barely speak to her anymore, and I can tell it’s making her severly depressed. Shes always been skinny but now she barely eats anything, only leaves her room for school, and her grades are steadily dropping. She says she just wants her mom and dad back, wants them to understand why she did it. I’ve tried my best to comfort her but every time I look at her I just think about how she murdered a child.

What do I do? I want my sister back but I just can’t see her the same way anymore. I know she’s been through a lot but is that really an excuse? Isn’t getting an abortion a sin no matter what?

 

My sister got an abortion and I can’t see her the same anymore. (Update) - October 12, 2023

Hello everyone. I’m the one that made that post a few hours ago about how my sister got an abortion after being sexually assaulted by a group of boys at a house party. If you haven’t read it I would suggest you go do so, otherwise this post won’t make sense.

I recieved a lot of comments and messages. Some of them were thoughtful, kind, and helpful, most of them were from this subreddit. But a lot of the responses i got on r/prolife told me that my sister is a liar, whore, child murderer, that this is all her fault, and that my parents and I would be justified in never speaking to her again. But when I look at my sister I don’t see any of these things. I see a scared 16 year old girl. I see the girl who helped me get over my stutter. I see the girl who protected me from being bullied for so many years. I see the girl who always convinced me that I was good enough. I see the girl who needs my help right now.

I’ve spent a lot of the day talking with people on reddit chats and in comments about how to help her. And despite all the horrible things I’ve heard said about my sister today, there were a some nice things as well. I spent a good chunk of the evening talking with her and we both ended up crying about what happened.

She gave me more details about what happened to her at the house party, details I won’t share here, but what I will say is I wouldn’t wish what she went through on anyone. Not even my worst enemy.

I tried talking to our parents some more but they wouldn’t listen to me. In their mind, what my sister did overshadows what happened to her. The more I think about it the more I realized they failed her when she first told them about what happened. They never comforted her, they just coldly gave her the option between therapy or legal action. And I think that was wrong of them.

I feel like I failed my duty as a brother by being so quick to label her a monster like our parents have. And I’m trying to do everything in my power to make that up to her.

As for how I feel about her abortion? I don’t know. I still don’t think it was right, but I understand why she did it. I understand why she felt she didn’t have any other options.

Thank you to everyone on this subreddit who was so kind and helpful. God bless all of you ❤️

Reminder - I am not the original poster.