This week, actress and pro-choice activist, Alyssa Milano discussed two abortions she had in 1993 on her weekly podcast “Sorry Not Sorry.” She and others said they did not regret their abortions and painted abortion as a positive good for women.

Victoria Robinson, former pregnancy center director and a spokesperson for the pro-life ministry Save the Storks, says the facts tell a different story.

“For over two decades, I’ve met or counseled thousands of post-abortive women,” she said.  “I can count on one hand how many of these women have told me they did not regret their abortions.”

Robinson’s experience, not Milano’s, is more the norm.

According to Save The Storks, “a comprehensive analysis of 22 studies by Professor Priscilla Coleman, PhD, published in The British Journal of Psychiatry,” shows that “Women who had undergone an abortion experienced an 81 percent increased risk of mental health problems, and nearly 10 percent of the incidence of mental health problems was shown to be attributable to abortion.”

The study has other findings that refute the narrative Alyssa Milano wants us to believe.  Coleman found that women with a history of abortion have higher rates of anxiety (34 percent  higher), depression (37 percent), alcohol use/misuse (110 percent) and suicidal behavior (155 percent), compared to those who have not had an abortion.

The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry also found “strong associations between abortion and mental disorders.”

“Continued mainstream efforts to deny the significant distress that easily affects a minimum of 20 percent of those who abort are dishonest and disrespectful,” Coleman wrote in a letter posted to We Care, an abortion research organization.

This information is a wake-up call for women who, like Alyssa Milano, have believed a false narrative.  But there is good news.  Abortion is not the only choice.  More than 3,000 pregnancy care centers served hundreds of thousands of women and their children last year alone.  Most of these pregnancy care centers have special programs that help women who have had abortions deal with the guilt and shame they often feel.

In our book, “Restoring All Things,” John Stonestreet and I wrote: “Pregnancy care centers have become an effective life-saving army of compassion, rescuing babies and restoring the broken lives of their mothers and fathers”  (p. 72).

Save The Storks’ Victoria Robinson spent more than 20 years working with pregnancy care centers.  “Pregnancy resource centers are one of the most valuable resources in our country today when it comes to helping the single mother at one of the scariest and most critical times of her life,” Robinson said. “When a single mother finds out she doesn’t have support from her partner or even her own family, these centers help her find housing, a job, baby supplies and more.”

She added, “The pro-life movement does not endorse or promote angry protests. We are adamant for women to hear the entire truth and understand all their options before making an abortion decision.  The pro-life movement is pro-civil conversation, pro-education and pro-people.”

And Victoria Robinson is not the only pro-lifer who noticed Milano’s podcast.

It troubled one California pastor, and he’s devised a way for all of us can get actively involved in refuting Alyssa Milano’s false narrative and restoring the true story of life to the public conversation.

Jarrid Wilson, a father of two, believes children are not burdens, as Milano said, but blessings.  He is inviting parents to post a photo of their children with the hashtag #greatjoys.  Thousands of people have so far responded.

Wilson said he was praying for Milano’s conversion.  “I don’t know Alyssa Milano personally, but I’m praying she really thinks about the totality of what she’s saying on public platforms, especially in regards to situations that encompass the reality of life and death.”

Editor’s Note:  To find a pregnancy resource center near you, visit CareNet’s Pregnancy Resource Center Locator

Another great resource is Heartbeat International’s Worldwide Directory of Pregnancy Help.     .

To find post-abortive help and counseling, visit OptionLine.