The Latin phrase cogito, ergo sum, or “I think, therefore I am,” became well-known because of the French philospher Descartes.
Miriam “Penny” Hopper thinks and exists because her grandmother rescued her from an attempted abortion, according to a report from Fox News.
Hopper told the outlet she is person whom Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) was talking about when he talked about a woman who survived multiple abortion attempts.
“I did exist,” Hopper told Fox.
Her public declaration should silence the political opponents who tried to bury the Florida Republican by calling him untruthful.
“I know a lady in Florida named Penny,” DeSantis said during the GOP debate. “She survived multiple abortion attempts. She was left discarded in a pan. Fortunately, her grandmother saved her and brought her to a different hospital.”
DeSantis was skewered on social media like shrimp on the barbie.
“The story of Penny found in the pan by DeSantis is ludicrous, and obviously untrue. It should be looked into by the media,” declared The Lincoln Project co-founder Steve Schmidt.
Journalist Jill Filipovic called the DeSantis tale so outlandish that it surpassed normal politician lies.
“I understand that politicians lie, but DeSantis’s story about ‘Penny,’ a woman he says survived multiple abortion attempts and was rescued from a pan by her grandmother, is just such a bizarre and impossible story, it’s stunning that any human is that gullible,” Filipovic exclaimed before Hopper’s remarks.
Hopper responded to these criticisms, emphasizing her existence at 23 weeks and highlighting the many abortion survivors worldwide with their own stories.
Her story was first publicized in a pro-life advertisement by Faces of Choice during the 2020 March for Life in Washington, D.C., according to the report.
According to Hopper, she was born following a failed abortion attempt in 1955.
At 23 weeks of pregnancy, her mother faced complications, leading to a doctor’s recommendation to terminate the pregnancy.
Despite the abortion attempt, Hopper was born at 3:25 a.m. on November 29, 1955, weighing 1 pound and 11 ounces, the report noted. She recounted that a nurse placed her in a bedpan on the clinic’s back porch.
Her grandmother and aunt, upon arriving at the clinic, sought police assistance, and a nurse subsequently transported Hopper to a hospital in Lakeland, Florida.
While the complete details of Hopper’s story couldn’t be fully verified, she expressed gratitude that DeSantis shared her story on a national stage.
“You know that you’ve known your story all your life, but you’re not the only one out there to tell a story, that’s got stories to tell,” Hopper said. “I was very humbled by it.”
The Abortion Survivors Network, an advocacy group for those who have survived abortions, states that the number of abortion survivors in the U.S. is challenging to quantify.
Only 10 U.S. states mandate reporting on babies born alive post attempted abortions, with varying definitions of “born alive.” Since 2019, the network claims to have been in contact with nearly 650 abortion survivors.
Hopper hopes her story will inspire pregnant women facing challenges.
“There are organizations like Abortion Survivor Network that have created a platform for a woman to come and not only get and bring healing to this … but help her not choose abortion,” she said.
Reflecting on her personal journey, Hopper shared that her father initially did not want her but on his deathbed, he expressed deep gratitude for her presence in his life, the report noted.
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