Freedom always comes at a price, and in the case of “reproductive freedom,” I think it’s important to ask who’s footing the bill. Every year, countless women experience an unwanted pregnancy. Planned Parenthood tries to offer a “plan” where there is none: abortion. The plan exploits uncertainty and fear, and includes death and lifelong trauma for the bargain price of $600.

The devastating long-term psychological impact of this irreversible decision is not in the fine print. For me – and 70% of women like me who report after an abortion that the abortion was inconsistent with their values, unwanted, or coerced – abortion was not freedom, and we are still paying the price for it.

Having grown up in an impoverished, broken home where at least one parent was addicted to drugs and abuse occurred, I am the kind of woman Vice President Kamala Harris claims to be protecting when she vehemently supports abortion rights, claiming that disadvantaged women are at the top of the list of those who suffer under the right-to-life laws in two dozen states.

I was 20 years old and three months postpartum when my boyfriend forced me to terminate my second pregnancy. He shoved the money in my face, told me to “throw it away,” and threatened to kick me and our son out if I didn’t. I had a choice between abortion and homelessness. The sleeplessness that comes with caring for an infant and a difficult cesarean section with subsequent bleeding left me too physically weak and emotionally vulnerable to fight.

As a victim of forced abortion, I know Harris does not speak for most women who have had abortions. As long as we remain silent, Harris and co. will continue to push their loud, false narrative for political gain.

She wasn’t there to help me as I lay on a table in a dimly lit back room in obvious distress, tears streaming through my squinted eyes as I refused to look at the monitor. If the abortion doctor was truly pro-women, she would have asked me if this was my wish. If she was a medical professional, she would have asked me about my mental state after giving birth. She was none of that because I had already paid the money and there are no refunds for abortions.

Whether or not you agree that abortion is harmful, you must agree that it is messy. This is a complex issue that requires a thoughtful and detailed response, but Harris’ only response to repeated questions about what restrictions on abortion she would support is that she supports the Roe v. Wade and make it the law of the land.

Ironically roe In some states, babies were more protected than they are today when the law was in place. Democrats have legalized abortion for any reason during the entire nine months in some states, and have even repealed laws against particularly cruel partial abortions that have been proven to endanger the life of the mother. If our Constitution has any integrity left and Lady Liberty is not currently breathing her last, it is only a matter of time before our unborn children are entitled to these protections.

In the meantime, I would like to remind Harris and the Democrats that the Constitution they are exploiting by invoking “liberty” is the same document that is supposed to guarantee protection to me, a citizen of the United States who was harmed by the negligent practices of an abortion provider.

Harris is famous for being the first vice president to campaign in a Planned Parenthood office. In her speech, she claimed to be standing up for women who suffer in silence. But what about the women who left Planned Parenthood clearly and permanently weakened?

When she turns a deaf ear to the voice of millions of voters like me, it is deliberate denial. This strategic ploy revealed blatant bias, as she used her former position as California’s Attorney General to demonize pregnancy centers and support completely unconstitutional legislation that would force centers to recommend abortions, violating the conscience rights and religious beliefs of many centers and their staff. When she is celebrated for using her power to strip services for underprivileged women, plunging them into trauma, it feels like our nation has officially run out of heroes.

In reality, the heroes are the thousands of community organizations, such as pregnancy centers, that are stepping in to clean up the destruction left by “reproductive freedom.” Harris and the organization that funds her rhetoric, Planned Parenthood, are not providing any aftercare support to those harmed by her profit-driven political agenda. This would contradict her lie that abortion is safe and harmless.

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In contrast, peer coaches at life-affirming centers across the country guide the injured through the process of emotional healing, because the recovery Planned Parenthood offers is as good as a protein bar. Such centers offer a wide range of other material, financial and educational support that addresses the holistic needs of mothers without causing them psychological harm. Today, I work with H3helpline, offering women the support and healing I didn’t have before.

Women, especially the underprivileged, cannot afford a president like Harris, who has a proven record of abusing her power for personal ambition. She has repeatedly shown through her actions that she is not every woman’s ally and has used them as a shield to advance the exploitative and coercive abortion industry. It is up to us to keep her out of the White House this November and fight for candidates who value us, not just value abortion.

Lorien Hershberger lives in Florida, where she works as a pregnancy center volunteer, a statewide abortion recovery consultant, a certified doula, advocates for the humanity of the unborn in legislation, and provides pregnancy resources to rural communities.