Women and Abortion Regret Archives - Page 4 of 12

Many women seek post-abortion support

Theresa Burke of Rachel’s Vineyard Ministries talks about how many women participate in the healing retreats her organization runs:

“In 2006 our organization will provide 450 weekend retreats for healing after abortion. Each retreat will have between 12 and 25 participants.

That means that between 5,400 and 11,250 people will be coming forward for treatment in the upcoming year.

Our ministry is growing at a 40% rate each year…..

There are hundreds of other post-abortion ministries popping up everywhere.”

“Abortion and Depression” Interview With Theresa Burke of Rachel’s Vineyard Ministries ZENIT 04 MARCH 2006

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Psychologist testifies about abortion’s aftereffects

Psychologist Wanda Franz, PhD, testifying before Congress on March 16, 1989:

“Women who report negative aftereffects from abortion know exactly what their problem is… They report horrible nightmares of children calling to them from trash cans, of body parts, and blood. When they are reminded of the abortion, the women reexperienced it with terrible psychological pain… They feel worthless and victimized because they failed at the most natural of human activities – the role of being a mother.”

National Right to Life Educational Trust Fund “Abortion: Some Medical Facts” Washington DC NRLETF, 1989, 5

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Writer complains that only women who regret their abortions talk about them

Pro-Choice author Jodi Enda complains that not enough people who have had abortions are publicly speaking about their experiences. Of course, she only wants stories from women who are glad they chose abortion. She laments the fact that the only people speaking out about their abortions are women who regret them.

“… Now, when a right they’ve taken for granted is in jeopardy, virtually the only people speaking out about their choice to terminate a pregnancy are those who say they regret having made it…”

Jodi Enda “The Women’s View” The American Prospect April 2005

Enda wants more women who are happy with their choice to tell their stories. What does the fact that so few women come out with “happy” abortion stories mean?

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Abortion worker: women’s tears may be from physical pain

From a reporter who interviewed abortion doulas, abortion doulas work in clinics and help comfort women as they kill their babies:

“Vicki Bloom, who does birth and abortion work in New York, told me that … seeing tears on the table doesn’t mean the patient is having an emotional response — sometimes it just physically hurts. “There are people who can say, ‘I made this decision it was kind of tough; it was a really crappy day, but life goes on,’”

Alex Ronan “My Year As an Abortion Doula” The Cut SEPTEMBER 14, 2014

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Pro-choice writer: women’s initial response to abortion may not reflect her later response

Pro-choice writer Cara J. Marianna interviewed women who had abortions. She found that the way a woman initially felt right after her abortion did not always reflect how she would feel about her abortion months or years later.

She says:

“A woman’s immediate response to the abortion did not necessarily have a direct correlation with her later interpretation of the experience. Mary described her abortion as ‘amazingly unintrusive.’ Later in the day she had a negative emotional reaction and called her best friend for support.”

Cara J. Marianna Abortion: A Collective Story (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002) 110

Some pro-lifers have noted that women who initially felt satisfied with their decision to abort can suffer from severe emotional trauma many years later. Sometimes, something acts as a trigger. This could be a subsequent pregnancy, a close friend or relative having a baby, or a religious conversion.

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Women who abort don’t have “socially sanctioned” way to mourn

From pro-choice author Cara J. Marianna, who interviewed post-abortion women and listened to their stories:

“There is an unspoken social agreement that abortion, however necessary, is an abomination, and pregnant women must be protected from it. Part of the grief that can surround abortion is a physiological response to the loss of the pregnancy. Yet women who abort do not have a socially sanctioned way to recognize what they have been through. It is as if, in the eyes of society, we never were pregnant.”

Cara J. Marianna Abortion: A Collective Story (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002) 88

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Professional counselors fail to help post-abortion woman

One woman tells her abortion story, and writes about how mainstream mental health professionals failed to help her:

“After the abortion I woke up and was staring at a brick wall. I had never felt so dirty and disgusted with myself…

My life from that moment changed for the worse. I would drink myself to a point of hospitalization and each time I was admitted I would talk about the abortion. The doctors and nurses would tell me I needed to see someone about my issues. They couldn’t even say the word “abortion” to me. In one admission I wasn’t allowed to leave the hospital as they had fears for my safety. They had me speak with a psychiatrist before I left and he said I was fine and I seemed to be overreacting to the abortion and my work was the real issue. I looked blank at him and thought I’m just going to tell you what you want to hear so I can leave.

I spoke with many counselors, nurses, psychologists and psychiatrists and none of them understood me. In my mind no one could help me get through the anguish of having had an abortion.

I drank to excess at every opportunity… I knew the reason behind all the self-destructive behavior was the abortion, and I thought that’s all my life was going to amount to. I was so angry at my now ex-partner, abortion clinic and most of all myself for allowing this abortion to affect me so badly that I would deliberately put myself into positions to danger…

She went to a counselor who specialized in post-abortion healing and finally found peace:

I now have a plaque on a beautiful memorial at a church in Melbourne. This finally gave me some closure.

It’s only since I have acknowledged her and giving her a name that I’ve been able to move on. The memory will always remain.”

Anne R Lastman Redeeming Grief: Abortion and Its Pain (Balwyn, Vic: Australia: Gracewing, 2013) 210 – 211

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Therapist fails to help woman’s post-abortion mourning

A therapist told a woman suffering from abortion regret that her abortion was the right decision, but this failed to resolve the woman’s grief.

The post-abortion woman said:

“I saw for a short time a therapist who tried to tell me to get on with it and that it was the best decision that was possible for that timeframe in my life but I realized that this therapist did not know a thing about grief and mourning. The therapist did not acknowledge that aborted children are important and therefore worth mourning over. This is the mistake being made. If someone doesn’t believe that my aborted baby was a “baby” or “important” that simply says that they are not prepared to acknowledge my grief and pain and that means that they can cause more hurt than healing. Thank God that by “accident” I heard about Anne and her manner of counseling abortive women and since going to her I have started on my way back home again and it feels so good.”

Anne R Lastman Redeeming Grief: Abortion and Its Pain (Balwyn, Vic: Australia: Gracewing, 2013) 246

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Teenage girls have nightmares after their abortions

From a therapist who works with postabortion women:

“I have encountered young women (as young as 14 and 16 years of age) who are drinking and drug taking in order to sleep without nightmares, and without hearing the baby’s voice crying out, or because “I keep dreaming about dead babies” (Melissa). Alcohol and substance abuse are used as anesthesia to block out the memory.”

Anne R Lastman Redeeming Grief: Abortion and Its Pain (Balwyn, Vic: Australia: Gracewing, 2013) 116

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