Gianna Jessen (born April 6, 1977) is an American anti-abortion activist. She was born during a failed instillation abortion attempt. Jessen spent three months in the hospital before being placed in foster care. She was adopted at the age of four.

Career

1990s

Jessen's career as an activist began in 1991, when she was 14, after her adoptive mother, Diana DePaul, told Jessen she was born to a 17-year-old girl, during a failed abortion attempt. Jessen has since campaigned against abortion, saying "It's more comfortable for people to think of abortion as a political decision, or a right. But I am not a right. I am a human being". Jessen said she's forgiven her birth mother, but is not interested in a relationship with her, citing a strong relationship with her adoptive mother. Jessen has also campaigned against exceptions to late-term abortion laws, on the grounds of fetal disability, citing her own disability. Jessen appeared on the Maury Povich Show with her adoptive mother in 1991. In early 1996, Festival of Light Australia sponsored an Australian tour, during which Jessen spoke at venues in all states and territories.

2000s

In his speech at the 2002 signing of the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act President George W. Bush mentioned Jessen, acknowledging her presence and extending his appreciation.

In December 2005 Jessen travelled to London to support a campaign to reduce the number of abortions under the UK Abortion Act and to speak at a parliamentary meeting at the House of Commons.

On May 8, 2006, the Colorado State House of Representatives considered a resolution honoring the 90th anniversary of a local branch of Planned Parenthood. Republican representative Ted Harvey invited Jessen to sing the national anthem to the House that day and then told her story "because, 'I just wanted to put a face to this celebration'."

In September 2008, Jessen was in Canberra, Australia, sponsored by the Australian Christian Lobby, to lobby federal politicians on late term abortions.

2010s

In September 2015, Jessen testified at a Congressional hearing investigating Planned Parenthood's practices regarding fetal tissue donation, following the Planned Parenthood 2015 undercover videos controversy. During her testimony, Jessen said she would ask Planned Parenthood the following question: "If abortion is about women's rights, then what were mine?"

See also

  • The Oldenburg Baby, a German child born after a failed abortion attempt

References

  • of Gianna Jessen
  • Gianna Jessen's page on The Abortion Survivors Network web site
  • Born Alive Truth political advertisement featuring Gianna Jessen critical of Barack Obama's position on Born Alive legislation
  • Gianna Jessen's address in Australia (YouTube)
  • Gianna Jessen's interview on the Maury Povich Show, 1991
  • Gianna Jessen's testimony at Congressional Judiciary Committee hearing, September 9, 2015