Abortion

FAQs

Q: What do I need to know if I am considering an abortion?

A: One way to decide what is right is to look at the results in the lives of other women. When choosing parenting, most women struggle with being a mom, but nearly all say it is worth it. With adoption, some may experience regret, but there is also, normally, an acceptance of having done the best you could. With abortion, the most common feeling is regret. As a matter of fact, one survey found that 93 percent of women regret their abortion. “The majority of women wish that they had not chosen abortion. Of all the choices you have, abortion is the choice regretted most by women who have gone through it.”[1]

Q: What if I have had an abortion?

A: Simply put, most women who choose abortion are going against their own moral codes, and this explains why they feel guilt afterward. And the guilt is what stops them from talking about it or getting the emotional help they deserve. A number of counselors who have explored this issue in some depth have identified a condition that they call “post-abortion syndrome” (PAS), defined as an ongoing inability to: Process the painful thoughts and emotions – especially guilt, anger and grief – which arise from one or more unplanned pregnancies and subsequent abortions. Identify (much less grieve) the loss that has been experienced. Come to peace with God, herself, and others involved in the pregnancy and abortion decision.[2]

Q: What are symptoms that might indicate that I am suffering from Post-abortion Syndrome?

A: Here are some symptoms of Post-abortion Syndrome:

Guilt - results from violating one's own sense of right and wrong.
Anxiety - headaches, dizziness, pounding heart, abdominal cramps, muscle tightness, difficulty sleeping, etc.
Avoidance behaviors - anything that brings to mind pregnancy and children.
Psychological “numbing” - the unconscious vow to never let anything hurt this badly again can hamper the ability to enter fully into am emotional, intimate relationship.
Depression - sad mood, sudden and uncontrollable crying episodes, deterioration of self-concept, sleep and appetite disturbances, reduced motivation, loss of normal sources of pleasure, thoughts of suicide.
Re-experiencing events related to the abortion – persistent thoughts and flashback memories or nightmares involving themes of lost or dismembered babies.
Preoccupation with becoming pregnant again – representing an unconscious hope that a new pregnancy will replace the baby that was aborted.
Anxiety over fertility and childbearing issues – being convinced that God will punish by withholding future pregnancies.
Interruption or disruption of the bonding with present and/or future children – under bonding or over bonding with other children, whether born before or after a woman has an abortion.
Self-abuse/self-destructive behaviors – eating disorders, alcohol and/or substance abuse, cigarette-smoking, abusive relationships, promiscuity, failure to take care of one's self medically.
Anniversary reactions – an increase in symptoms around the time of the anniversary of the abortion, the due date of the aborted child, or both.
Brief psychotic disorder – a psychotic break with reality lasting for a short period of time within two weeks of the abortion.[3]

Q: How many women have had an abortion?

A: Half of pregnancies among American women are unintended, and about four in ten of these end in abortion. About half of American women will have an unintended pregnancy, and nearly three in ten will have an abortion by age forty-five.

A broad cross section of U.S. women has abortions:

58% are in their twenties
61% have one or more children
56% are unmarried and not cohabiting
69% are economically disadvantaged
73% report a religious affiliation[4]

[1] Author’s name not available, 1st Way Life Center, http://bit.ly/1JuMxcI. (Accessed January 22, 2015)

[2] Teri Reisser, MA, MFT, “Healing After Abortion,” Heartlink, 2005. http://bit.ly/1At5jdg. (Accessed January 22, 2015)

[3] Reisser, “Healing After Abortion,” http://bit.ly/1At5jdg. (Accessed January 22, 2015)

[4] Author’s name unavailable, Guttmacher Institute, http://bit.ly/1JuN1Qc. (Accessed January 22, 2015)

Scriptures

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Romans 3:23-24 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Psalm 51:1-2 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your loving kindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions.2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.