A Mother’s Anguish – A Poem

In 1993, Dr. Wanda Franz, president of the National Right to Life Committee read a poem on NRLC’s radio program, “Pro-Life Perspectives,” that had first appeared in our own The Post-Abortion Review, Summer 1993. In a print ad for “Pro-Life Perspectives,” NRLC reports receiving the following letter in response to the poem:

“When I first heard the poem I was only 15 years old and pregnant with my first child. While I listened to this poem, I started crying because I had been considering abortion, and after the poem I couldn’t believe I could consider such a thing.”

A Mother’s Anguish

I long to hold you in my arms, to see your precious baby charms.

Though I know it will never be, your sweet child face I yearn to see.

Your fate was sealed so long ago, I made the “choice” to let you go.

You’re with God and I am here, but one day we’ll meet and I’ll draw you near.

I’ll hold you close and hear you say, “Mama I love you . . . anyway.”

Jeanene Clarke


Originally published in The Post-Abortion Review 1(2) Summer 1993.

3 thoughts on “A Mother’s Anguish – A Poem

  1. Sometimes when we make certain choices in life, at that moment we might think it is for the best, but just remember that when you start to regret that, you are not the first to make a mistake that you will have to live with for the rest of your life,and darling dont think that you will be the last.

  2. Thank you for sharing your story. I was looking for guidance for I am after three years feeling the main of my horrifying mistake. I hope god one day will forgive me for what I have done.

  3. A tear trickled down my face as I read that poem, why do we as women give in to the pressure of abortion, we have to live with the visions of our actions for the rest of our lifes! Don’t let a guy tell u, don’t let your mummy tell you, let yourself tell you because you are the only one that can be true in the years following…

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