Toni Braxton Speaks Candidly On Her Abortion: “Is God Punishing Me?”

Culture
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Whatever your stance is on abortion, the reality is that many women undergo the procedure. From the Center for Disease Control;

In 2010, 765,651 legal induced abortions were reported to CDC from 49 reporting areas. The abortion rate for 2010 was 14.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years and the abortion ratio was 228 abortions per 1,000 live births…

Women in their twenties accounted for the majority of abortions in 2010 and throughout the period of analysis. The majority of abortions in 2010 took place early in gestation: 91.9% of abortions were performed at ≤13 weeks’ gestation, and of the abortions performed at ≤13 weeks’ gestation, 71.7% were performed at ≤ 8 weeks’ gestation. In 2010, 17.7% of all abortions were medical abortions.

Additionally, black and Latino women have very high rates of abortion, but it’s not something that we often discuss in our community.

In her new memoir “Unbreak My Heart” singer Toni Braxton discusses the secret abortion she had when dating her then-boyfriend (and eventual ex-husband) Keri Lewis. She admits that she was going through bankruptcy at the time and did it primarily to protect her lifestyle. She was soon plagued with guilt and regret, and wondered if her first son’s autism, her parents’ messy divorce and her lupus diagnosis were all punishment for the abortion.

Here she is discussing it on Entertainment Tonight;

I appreciate Toni for speaking out on an issue that many black women — and black mothers — face, but don’t feel they can speak on.

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  • http://sweetsensiblescents.com Carole Grayson

    No God is not punishing her (or the rest of us, any of us who have) for having an abortion or doing any other thing that we thought was the right thing to do at the time but she was brought up to believe that and so was I (in the black church). We get so stuck in the punishment part of Christ we can’t enjoy the fact that Christ died for us and we’re forgiven of our sins, not punished for them forever. She can let that go (and so can the rest of us).

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    • Baby and Blog

      That’s exactly what I was thinking too. It pains me that she is walking around with all this shame and guilt. Kudos to her for acknowledging it all. But I really don’t think she should be connecting her abortion to subsequent life struggles.

      There are many women who have NOT had abortions who struggle with the same things.

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  • Pingback: Toni Braxton Charges Her 11 and 12-Year-Old Sons Rent; Would You? | Baby & Blog()

  • Pebbles

    Funny how ppl going around clinging to a God they believe only punishes them. What happened to the whole Christ died for our sins shindig? Toni needs to get some personal help/therapy and stop bad mouthing abortions. She’s just feeling guilty that “she chose” abortion in order to protect her lifestyle. Don’t blame God, Toni. All that guilt is 100% yours. Time to forgive yourself and move on.

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  • http://www.truthchasers-estrella.blogspot.com Estrella

    There are so many errors being taught in the church that prevents God’s children from enjoying his presence and one of them is that he punishes us for our sins. The bible says that murder (which is what abortion is tantamount to) is the same as lying, cheating, stealing, homosexuality,etc)God does not say that one sin is greater than the other. So if he is punishing her for abortion, shouldn’t he be punishing her for all the lies she told since then? If God punishes us for the sins we commit, then why send Christ in the first place?
    I would love to see this beautiful talented young woman forgive herself, accept that God does not hold her past sins against her as long as she has repented of them and move on…

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