As Sarah approached the completion of her associate’s degree and was preparing to transfer to a four-year university course, she unexpectedly became pregnant. “I was upset and sad. I felt like I made a huge mistake,” she said.

According to Sarah who lives in the US, the baby’s father was unhappy as well, and together they opted for an abortion – a decision that conflicted with the values she was raised with.

The situation filled her with fear. “I was very scared,” she recalled. Nonetheless, she took the first pill to end the life of her baby and left the abortion clinic “in tears feeling absolutely hopeless.”

Outside the clinic, a pro-life witness engaged Sarah and informed her about the abortion pill reversal process, emphasising that she didn’t have to continue with the abortion. Sarah describes how she “sat in my car for the next few hours feeling so distraught” not knowing what to do. In the end, she phoned her father and told him the story and he encouraged her to try to keep her baby. She said her thoughts then turned to her unborn child and during this time she “decided that this must be God’s plan for me” to keep her baby.

Recounting what happened next, Lisa Bourne, Managing Editor of Pregnancy Help News in the US said that Sarah then contacted the Abortion Pill Rescue Network to try and save her unborn baby girl’s life. Everything worked according to plan and recently Sarah gave birth to baby Cameron at 40 weeks with no complications. She said that although her academic career will be delayed and she will need to reapply to transfer to the university for the following college year, she has absolutely no regrets. “My plan had to change but my life is where it should be. I am so happy I don’t have to live with the decision to terminate my pregnancy. I’m so happy to have a baby and be a mom,” she said.

This story stands as yet another example of why the unwarranted attacks and ideological resistance to APR in Ireland must be called out and forcefully challenged.