Abandoned: The Untold Story of the Abortion Wars

by Monica Migliorino Miller

Every day, thousands of children--fragile, innocent, alone--are abandoned. They are brutally snuffed from the world and literally left in the trash . . . and it's all legal. "Abandoned" is the story of one woman's staunch and courageous defense of those children abandoned by abortion. Since 1976, Monica Miller has made it her life's work to defend the she has counseled pregnant women outside of abortion clinics and organized pro-life groups and sit-ins at many of those same clinics. She has blocked abortionists cars, been arrested, and gone to jail. And she has pulled the bodies of thousands of unborn babies out of dumpsters and given them a proper burial. She has photographed their bodies as well. Some of these heart-wrenching photographs are included in these pages to show that abortion is not merely a woman's choice or a hot-button political issue, but a bloody massacre of innocent life. Heartfelt, honest, and unflinching, "Abandoned" is a first-hand account of the Pro-Life movement. Inside, you'll find many fascinating tales from the front-lines of the abortion battle, Victories and defeats in sidewalk counseling; late-night rescues of the remains of aborted babies from abortion clinic dumpsters; the fascinating and daring story behind the disappearance of abortion clinic ads along the Chicago El Line; the courageous blockade of an abortionist's car at an Illinois rest stop; sit-ins, arrests, and sometimes unbelievable conversations (and conversions) outside of abortion clinics; chilling looks at the inner-workings of abortion mills; and much more. Monica's stories and pictures from the front-lines of the Pro-Life movement are courageous, moving, and ultimately a powerful witness to the brief lives of unborn children, and an exhortation for us to do more to protect them. Abandoned is the profound, breathtaking, and often daring journey of one woman, but it is much more than that. It is an oral history of the Pro-Life movement, a suspenseful, true-life tale of life and death, and a plea for the protection of the most helpless and innocent members of the human family.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

370 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2012

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was amazing. Miller opens the book with some of the most compelling scenes I have ever read. She describes pulling the broken bodies of aborted babies out of trash cans and reassembling them to take pictures. It was riveting. The first half of the book was a masterpiece. Not only was the subject compelling, but Miller writes very very well - you would make a terrific novelist if she ever wants to start a second career. The book had me turning pages late into the night wanting to know everything that happened. It made me angry at times, very sad at times, and also re-fired my commitment to being pro-life. The second half of the book was mostly the history of the pro-life movement and the activities that Miller took part in including "rescues" which were citizens in front of abortion clinics that happened in the late 80s and early 90s. This part of the book was not as interesting, and sometimes I felt that I was pushing myself to finish, but still it was informative and important to understand what the pro-life movement was like during that time. I am in awe of Miller's dedication towards unborn babies and their mothers. She is truly a hero of the pro-life movement. It is wonderful to know that their activists like Miller around, who care so much about unborn and aborted babies. It fired me to be more pro-life.

[Lauren Lutz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disturbingly truthful. I admire Monica Miller for her deep passion and conviction on the abortion issue. It is not only admirable it is inspiring. So many in this country want to turn a blind eye to what is happening. I dare anyone to read this and walk away unconvinced that abortion is an intrinsic evil.

[Patrick Costello · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memoir is an astounding account of the first 25 years of legal abortion in the United States. The author in those years was deeply committed to pro-life activism from sidewalk counseling to the burials of unborn children to the rescue movement. Even if you are not pro-life this book is a must read as it vividly recalls this most critical moment in our nation's history from a woman who was truly in the trenches of the abortion war. She is incredibly well-read and her writing reflects a passion, honesty, and conviction which are inspiring.

The book is as much a riveting story as it is a history and the many ironies of abortion are revealed, sometimes almost poetically. She focuses largely on the humanity of the preborn child, and even after years of belief in the pro-life movement I have been deeply impacted by her witness to the inherent dignity of the children killed by abortion.

This is not a political book or philosophical argument; it is simply the reality of one woman's experience in the most tragic period of United States history. Nobody can read this story and remain unaffected.

[C · Rating 1 out of 5]

At one point the author tears down posters of people who died seeking illegal abortions. At no point does she argue for better policies to support parents or birth control. She doesn't care about reducing abortions, only about making herself into a poster girl.

[Siobhain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Monica Miller is a brave woman, a true hero for life. This is sad story of what happens to the remains of aborted babies, but it is a story that has to be told. Did you ever fall for the lie that an unborn baby is just a lump of tissue. Every abortionist knows this is untrue. Abandoned tells the story of pro life heroes who document and bury with dignity the remains of the tattered and torn babies destroyed by abortion. Somewhere else other than this book, I read the story of a little girl, the daughter of a pro abortion woman, who saw one of Monica Miller's pictures. Upon seeing it she, she said, "Look, Mommy. Who broke the baby?"

[Elly Smyczynski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I know a few people personally that are more aggressive, like Monica, in the prolife movement, this is the first book that I have read that goes into detail about this aspect of the prolife movement. The book is well written and certainly gives you a feel for the author's unquestionably dedicated commitment to the unborn. Her personal sacrifice is at times startling and could be shocking to some. I'm guessing that Monica, like me, wonders what more we can do to wake America up. A good read.

[Michael Krembs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent/High!y Recommend

This book will change you! Some books are helpful, others can be enlightening but this one touches you deep in your soul with the truth about abortion. Written by someone whose whole life is so identified with life and saving lives that she truly give voice to the voiceless! A Must Read!

[Ron Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating memoir of an anti-abortion activist and political prisoner of conscience. As a libertarian, I'm disturbed at how a special interest group such as the abortion industry was able to pay politicians to subvert the free speech and free assembly rights of Americans.

[Roberta Wentworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A haunting, horrifying book. Also a must-read.

[Deaustinbe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-told, courageous, troubling. Recommended for anyone wanting to understand or speak to this pervasive issue....a call to action.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow - this is so powerful. What an incredible story of a courageous, compassionate woman. Just like Harriet Tubman, Monica Miller is a true hero as she fights to rescue the weakest and most innocent among us.

“Every day, thousands of children—fragile, innocent, alone—are abandoned. They are brutally snuffed from the world and literally left in the trash . . . and it's all legal. Abandoned: The Untold Stories of the Abortion Wars is the story of those children abandoned by abortion, and it is the story of their courageous defenders.
“Since 1976, Monica Miller has made it her life's work to defend the unborn: she has counseled pregnant women outside abortion clinics and organized pro-life groups and sit-ins at many of those same clinics. She has blocked abortionists cars, been arrested, and gone to jail. And she has pulled the bodies of thousands of unborn babies out of dumpsters and given them a proper burial.
“Abandoned: The Untold Stories of the Abortion Wars is the profound, breathtaking, and often daring journey of one woman, but it is much more than that. It is a history of the Pro-Life movement since Roe vs. Wade, a suspenseful, true-life tale of life and death, an insightful look into the unique and terrible horror of abortion, and a plea for the protection of the most helpless and innocent members of the human family.” -From the book summary

“To block the door to the abortion chamber may be the only act of love performed for that child in this life. Even if killed by the abortion, the child did not leave this world unloved. Someone performed an act of sacrifice for him. Therefore, don’t ask how many babies have been saved, ask first how many babies have been loved.” -p. 115

“It’s important to be consistent here. We have to treat to you unborn children like human beings, and if a human being was on the street being pulverized and torn limb from limb, I wouldn’t just write my congressman, I wouldn’t just get a picket sign and say please stop doing that, I wouldn’t just try and persuade an assailant from beating and tearing limb from limb this helpless child. I’d put- at least I’d put my own body between the assailant and the victim. That’s the act of protection. That’s the act of love.” -p. 226

“When I first saw the photos of aborted babies...I went into a kind of shock… The sight makes us tremble and weep, and the shock solidifies within us a great, absolute “No,” as we refuse to be part of this terrible darkness. Our being is filled with a resolve to stand against it. Nothing in this glimpse of Hell can be right, and the evil of it all is incarnated in broken bodies that cry to you for justice. Once you see the bodies with the right mind, you can never go back.” -p. 277

“What kind of world can be founded on a woman’s choice, codified by law, to reject her own child? Only a very ugly world...But this world has nothing to do with real democracy or tolerance… ‘No law can give the right to do what is wrong. The foundation of a free people rests on the nobility of their moral action.” -p. 291

“Roe v. Wade was based on the premise- indeed, on the philosophy- that the woman stands alone. Abortion isolates the woman from all other human beings in the world. Under Roe, no one, not parents or boyfriend or husband, and much less a stranger, has any claim on the woman and her baby. In the philosophy of Roe there are no inherent human relationships.” -p. 173

[Stanley Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unflinching memoir by a Catholic Pro-Life activist with a B.A. degree in theater and a Ph.D. in theology. The book is at once a dramatic retelling of the early part of her life and a theological treatise on level with many of the writings of the saints of the Church. Monica Miller has become well-known in the Pro-Life community for her commitment to non-violent protests, sit-ins, and her legal debate with judges and arguments presented to juries. She has spent many months in jail for her civil disobedience, and is in jail now as I write this. Ironically, what the law would forbid her from doing (persuading women not to have an abortion) the courts give her unimpeded access to pregnant women in the jail, prison, and work-release correctional facilities. Between Monica and her jailed cohorts many a baby has been saved from the abortionists devices while incarcerated. The book is engaging and extremely well written, carrying the reader along with an eye-witness, up close view of the effort, involving thousands of pro-life activists, to stop an American holocaust, that continues to this day even in the shadow of Roe v. Wade's demise.

[Lucy Pollard-Gott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grippingly told, Dr. Monica Migliorino Miller's memoir shows and defends mercy in action: counseling the doubtful, sacrificing one's own freedom to protect the vulnerable, and burying the dead. In fact, the book begins with a quote from Antigone, the heroine of Sophocles' tragedy, who went to her own death for the crime of burying her slain brother, Polyneices: "No one shall say I failed him! I will bury My brother--and yours too, if you will not."

[Clare Lamperski · Rating 5 out of 5]

So powerful. At times I had to put it down because to just breathe.

[Dolores Downey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moving and disturbing true story about the pro-life movement in the 70s, 80s, and early 90's. A very intense must read for those who value all life.

[Rodolfo Borges · Rating 3 out of 5]

É um bom livro para quem quer entender o lado daqueles que se posicionam contra o aborto. Nos EUA, o procedimento é liberado desde os anos 1970, e quem protesta por lá são os 'pró-vida'. Durante o fim do século 20, eles fizeram uma série de atividades e intervenções para tentar impedir abortos, e médicos que realizavam os procedimentos chegaram a ser assassinados a caminho de clínicas (alterações na legislação no governo Clinton aumentaram as penas para a tentativa de impedir abortos, como bloquear a entrada de clínicas, e deram fim à forma mais ostensiva dessa atividade). Apesar de a autora do livro, uma destacada militante pró-vida, contar em detalhes esse período histórico e relatar passagens em que as mães convencidas a não abortar se dizem eternamente gratas aos militantes, é difícil desenvolver empatia pelos métodos do grupo.

[Theresa Bonkoski · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good look back to the beginning of the pro life movement to save babies from the abortionist!

[Jane Fonner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Chilling look at the inner-workings of abortion facilities. Provocative and Disturbing.