Pro-Choice Nun Remorseful after Silent No More Leader Unveils Tyranny of Abortion
By Kathleen Gilbert
CAMPELLSPORT, Wisconsin, December 9, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - When Julie Shockley read a nun's recently published defense of the "pro-choice" ideology as a reflection of God's gift of free will, Shockley was immediately reminded of her own abortion experience - one she says robbed her of that very gift.
Shockley, a regional coordinator of Silent No More in western Tennessee, sent a compassionate response to Sister Arlene Welding after reading about her letter on LifeSiteNews.com (LSN). Now Shockley says she believes the nun has since reversed her errant beliefs.
In an article entitled "God is Pro-Choice," Sr. Arlene had written in the Milwaukee Archdiocese newspaper that bishops should not have spoken out against voting for Barack Obama. "Obama may be pro-choice, but so is God. God gave everyone a free will and he does not pressure people into using that free will to do what is right," wrote Sr. Arlene.
"Yes, abortion is the killing of an innocent life," she said, but added that "abortion might have been the lesser of two evils" and "even the most merciful alternative" for children who survived the womb but now starve to death in third-world countries.
Shockley told LSN that, in responding to the nun's words, she expressed "agreement with her about our free will, the injustices and poverty in our society that lead to abortion, and our need to address these issues.
"But having personal experience with abortion as a sixteen year old stripped of my own free will to choose what was right, and forced to abort. I asked for her compassion and understanding of our Church's teaching - abortion is intrinsically evil precisely because it strips us of what the Lord Himself would not take - our free will," she said.
She described to LSN the circumstances of her own abortion, in which doctors and her entire family forced her into the procedure, and promised no support should she decide to keep her baby. "In that regard, I can't see that as having free will anymore," she said.
In turn, Sister Arlene called her personally "to apologize for any sorrow she caused." "She sounded truly contrite, and sorrowful herself," said Shockley, "And I give thanks to God that He gave her the grace and humility to see where her thoughts, as expressed, were misguided."
Shockley continued: "My faith in our religious has been strengthened because you brought us together, Sister Arlene and me. We are all human, after all, and some of us see more of suffering than others. I was strengthened by her grace, and touched deeply by her heartfelt apology; further, I was enriched by the opportunity to write to her with God's help to enable her to see the issue from a different perspective."
Shockley noted that other members of Silent No More, a nationwide campaign exposing the devastation suffered by those involved in abortion, also wrote to help the nun understand the true scope of the abortion tragedy. Shockley believes that, "by the grace of God," Sr. Arlene has reconsidered her position.
"Sister Arlene is not pro-abortion," concluded Shockley. "She is simply, like most of us, over-exposed to the suffering of the world, and at times, overwhelmed by it."
See related LifeSiteNews.com article:
God is Pro-Choice Says Nun
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08120105.html
