A changed heart, a reversed abortion, a new outlook on life
May 19, 2022
There was a time when Sarah Hurm contemplated abortion.
Raised Catholic in Des Moines and a Sunday church-goer, she found herself at age 26 to be a single mom of three kids, with two different dads, living on government assistance and expecting her fourth child with a third dad.
“I knew how it looked. I knew how people would view me,” she said.
She remembers telling the father of her fourth child that she was pregnant.
“When I told the father, he automatically said we had to take care of it like responsible adults and abortion was that responsible adult thing to do,” she said. “I eventually gave in to his pressures of scheduling an abortion.”
She did what he told her to do, then regretted it. With the help of a doctor, they reversed a chemical abortion.
Now, Hurm shares her story in hope that others might find value and dignity in life and get help during and after a crisis pregnancy.
Hurm will share her story at the annual Innervisions gala on June 2. She’ll share how she experienced a change of heart, found help and is grateful today that there are people who supported her through her pregnancy and after her child was born. They’ve helped her get job training so she could support her young family, and are helping her publish a book of journal entries to her unborn child.
In retrospect, she said, “I realized that God never left me and that it’s allowed me to understand just how miraculous each person is.”
Hurm remembers going to the abortion clinic, a cold, sobering and traumatic experience “because I was still struggling that it was not what I wanted to do but what I was led to think I had to do.”
She also struggled with a promise she’d made to God with her third child: That if the baby had a heartbeat, she would keep it. The ultrasound at the abortion clinic showed her fourth baby had a heartbeat.
“All I could hear was the father’s voice saying we need to be responsible,” she said. She started the chemical abortion, went home and struggled. She hadn’t finished the protocol when she decided to contact Vitae Family Clinic to see if there was anything she could do to reverse the abortion. They couldn’t promise it would work.
“I don’t need promises, I just need hope,” she said. “I need to know I’m doing everything I can to reverse this decision I made.”
On Jan. 11, 2019, Isaiah was born.
In 2020, Hurm learned about InnerVisions, which helped her get a scholarship so she could return to school for job training.
“They’re a support,” she said. “They help with so much as far as empowering me, supporting me.”
InnerVisions is also helping her turn the journal entries she penned to her unborn child into a book that provides a glimpse into the mind of a young woman who feels she has no other option in a crisis pregnancy than abortion.
Hurm’s story illustrates that a conversion of heart does not happen in one moment.
“Every day, she’s a more virtuous person, more faithful and a holier person,” said Bryan Gonzalez, development director at InnerVisions.
Her story also illustrates that InnerVisions does more than preserve life but helps one live life to the fullest.
“We think it’s important to be pro-birth but also help moms after they’ve had the baby,” Gonzalez said. “Sarah was courageous to change her mind and so we want to help walk alongside her. It’s a radical commitment InnerVisions has to help women after they’ve chosen life.”
For more information on InnerVisions or the upcoming gala, go to ivhcare.org.