KNOXVILLE (WVLT) – On Saturday, hundreds joined the Procession of Healing, a symbolic funeral procession to mourn abortions in Knox County.

It was much appreciated by Misty, a Knoxville mother who did not want to reveal her last name. When she was 17, she had an abortion.

"No matter what you do, you can't get past the pain,” she said. “My mother told me that I had to have abortion, or I needed to leave the house."

According to Misty, the choice to stay at home took away a funeral for what she calls her “12-week-old child.”

Organizers say the event was for people like Misty, who never got the chance to grieve.

She watched on as about 350 vehicles followed a single hearse through downtown Knoxville.

"It was a funeral procession for babies who were aborted last year,” said Aaron Jones who helped organize it. “We had about 3,100 abortions here in Knox County."

Participants in the Procession of Healing said they were pro-life, but not protesters.

"It's not a procession of condemnation, it's a process of people saying, 'we love you, let us reach out and love you and help you to be whole," said Pat Hughes, who took part in the event.

Organizers said the procession route allowed families to mourn and heal from their decisions, which rubbed some pro-choice advocates the wrong way.

"I think that it is a little dramatic, and implies that it was a kind of intended murder, which I don't believe choice is," said Ina Hughs, a pro-choice advocate who also said she understands why healing is needed, but called the procession a mockery. “I think it denigrated the spiritual and ritual side of a funeral."

As for Misty, she said the event offered her some closure, even know she believes her life will never be the same.

"You feel regret,” she said. “You always wonder, what could have been?."

Organizers expected as many as 30 hearses to participate, but only one came.

Many of the participants were members of the Trinity Chapel.

None of Knoxville’s abortion clinics would comment on the event. .