After the Story - Choices Like Rivers Episode 4
After the Story - Choices Like Rivers Episode 4
This podcast discusses each chapter of Choices Like Rivers and each episode is posted directly after the book episode. This episode corresponds with Chapter 2 Section 3 in the book.
Listen to my professionally narrated audio books and other podcasts here: AUDIO BOOKS & ALL PODCASTS.
More ways to read and follow along with my novels | Author Signed Hardcover | Author Signed Soft Cover | eBook
Sharon’s parents were not only horrified at the revelation that Sharon was pregnant, they were also saddened and disappointed.
There was a stain on those who bore out of wedlock children. It rested on the mom’s as well as the children. There was gossip and talk and the entire town would quietly pass hushed judgment on both of them.
Job opportunities would dwindle. Dating prospects would weed out the most desired eligible bachelors. Lack of opportunities would result in scraping by in abject poverty.
It is quite a contract from today where in the US around 37% are born to unwed mothers with around 60% being born to married couples.
There doesn’t seem to be a stigma any longer about this issue. However, if we factor in the rising rate of abortions that remove a significant amount of ‘would-be’ single parents I believe that stat would be considerably higher.
Approximately 1.14 million abortions were conducted in 2025 according to data from the Guttmacher Institute and Society for Family Planing.
I am not a statistician, but I believe if those 1.14 million mothers had kept their babies, the ration of single parents to married couples having babies would be much closer to 50%.
The hardship on single parents is considerable and birth control doesn’t work 100% of the time. But I believe the best alternative is adoption.
In 2025 there are approximately 2 million people waiting to adopt a baby. Even if all 1.14 abortions were adopted, there would still be a shortfall to those waiting to adopt.
Easy choices seem to rule the societal day though and now with the advent of the morning after pill abortion is easy and desired.
I’ve known women who have had abortions. I do not judge or fault them. I do know that they carry the weight of that decision each and every day. They wonder what if they had made a different decision. They wonder if they did the right thing. And they feel guilt and sadness.
Less than 1% of pregnancy cases show to cause medical complications or deadly harm to the mother. Most doctors claim that with the new advances in medicine, they can always find a way to treat the mother and deliver the baby.
I have 2 great-grandchildren who were born very pre-mature. One was just over 1.5 lbs and the other at 2 lbs. Both, due to current day medicine are well and thriving.
Abortion is an excuse. A quick-fix to go back to the way things were before. But they don’t go back exactly. The life that was created inside you was killed and ripped out. Your soul will not forget. Your body will not forget.
In Sharon’s case she did carry the pain of an unwanted abortion for the rest of her life. Maybe that is one reason it was so easy for Molly Sue to fill the void in her soul. No amount of convincing herself you talk her out of loving that child even though deep in her heart she knew better.
She was setting herself up for another painful heartache. But eight years had passed between the abortion and Molly Sue. Plenty of time for healing and restoration, right?
Well, maybe. Let’s find out.
Shop all versions of my novels here: Shop Here
Check out my website: NancyJacksonAuthor.com
Follow me here:
Substack: https://nancyjackson.substack.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NancyJacksonAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NAJackson
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/najackson/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nancyannjackson
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyajackson/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NancyJackson
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nancyajackson?lang=en
