Perspectives on abortion vary widely among candidates and voters.
Michelle and Jerry Shelfer have first-hand experience with trauma from abortion.
The husband and wife met 40 years ago and obtained an abortion the first time Ms. Shelfer became pregnant.
Raised in a secular Jewish home, Ms. Shelfer told The Epoch Times having an abortion was a valid option. Her husband didn’t object to abortion, even though he was raised as a pastor’s child.
“Because I was raised with the feminist mantra that a woman has the right to choose, it must be good that I could choose whether to keep the baby or not,” Ms. Shelfer told The Epoch Times. “We didn’t know any better and were thoughtless, so we had the abortion.”
Ms. Shelfer, now a Messianic Jew who believes in Jesus, says that decision shattered her world. From how she votes to her mission in life, she now seeks to inform others about the pain of abortion.
“I became angry with the feminist ideology,” Ms. Shelfer said. “I clearly had been sold a bill of goods, as the reality that I had taken a human life came with a lot of collateral damage, including shame and guilt.”
Ms. Shelfer was born and raised in San Francisco and returned to the Bay Area after schooling and traveling to raise her family. She is a wife, a mother of two children, and a grandmother of eight. She and her husband are pro-life advocates.
Abortion is set to be a critical issue for voters in the 2024 elections.
The perspectives on abortion vary widely among candidates and voters, often reflecting deeply held beliefs, moral values, and religious convictions.
A March poll conducted by KFF, formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation, found that 12 percent of respondents said abortion is the most critical issue for their vote in the 2024 elections. The poll gives some indication of how the abortion issue could motivate those respondents who believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
By Russ Jones
