Nov 10, 2010

Abortions Hurt Women

Chuck MisslerBy Dr. Chuck Missler
Koinonia House

Since the abortion rights movement started gaining ground nearly 40 years ago, abortion has been postured as an issue of women's rights and as a way of advancing the freedoms of women. However, when Roe v. Wade legalized abortion, millions of women began having to deal with the painful psychological, physical and spiritual realities of the issue.

Michael New writes at LifeNews.com,

"In the past year alone, studies analyzing the mental-health effects of abortion have appeared in a number of peer-reviewed journals, including The Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, Journal of Pregnancy, and The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. These studies find evidence that women who have had abortions are at greater risk for health problems ranging from PTSD to depression, alcoholism, and drug abuse."
New wrote in response to Brenda Major's article in The Washington Post on Sunday, which declared that women who have abortions are not more likely to have mental health problems than those who give birth. Major does not argue that women who have abortions don't have problems afterward. She just finds ways to explain those problems away. While some women certainly experience post-abortion regret, Major writes, plenty of women feel relief afterward. She argues that correlation does not impute causality, and that many women who grieve after an abortion may just as likely have dealt with postpartum depression had they given birth. She cites the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute to back her view that the link between abortion and poor mental health is a "lie."

Whatever Brenda Major may think, plenty of women can stand up and say that having an abortion did them far more harm than they ever thought it would. Women who have abortions can suffer in many ways:

Physically
  • Each year, over 140,000 women face immediate physical problems related to their abortions, including infection, uterine perforation, hemorrhaging, and cervical damage.
  • Abortion has been linked to breast cancer, increasing its risk by 30%. The risks for ovarian or cervical cancers also rise for women who have abortions.
  • Years after the abortion, women can find that they have been put at risk for complications in later pregnancies, including premature birth, placenta previa, and ectopic pregnancy. The complications that can accompany a legal abortion also can cause infertility, and some women who later want to have a baby cannot conceive or cannot carry their baby to full term.
Psychologically/Emotionally
  • Women who go through with an abortion often find that they suffer from depression and guilt, which can manifest in many ways. Some women experience nightmares, insomnia, eating disorders, and an increase in alcohol or drug abuse.
  • Many post-abortive women deal with suicidal thoughts, and the suicide rate for women who have had abortions is at least 6 times higher than for women who have not had abortions.
Socially
  • Because women have the "choice" of abortion, many feel forced to take that route. Parents, families, friends - purposefully or not - can make a pregnant woman feel that abortion is her only true choice. Those women who go through with an abortion because they feel social pressure to do so are often the most devastated by the decision they made. For other women, the shame they feel is so great that they can never admit to families or friends that they had an abortion, and most don't know where to go for help and healing.
Spiritually
  • The shame of having had an abortion causes many women to feel they have committed the unpardonable sin. Unable to forgive themselves, many feel God could never forgive them and feel rejected by Him. These women either avoid God and church altogether, or else try to pretend like the abortion never took place. Others strive to justify their action, yet feel that all those around them are judging them. Those women who can seek and receive God's forgiveness, however, can make true headway toward spiritual healing.
While abortion has been promoted as a means of freeing women, it in fact can and has brought women great bondage and suffering. Women who are unexpectedly and unwillingly pregnant need to know that they have many options available to them. They need to know that loved ones will be there to support them through the difficult times. Those who have already had abortions need to know that they are not alone, and that they can find healing and forgiveness. God is able to redeem every situation and bring His love into even the most tragic darkness.

Let us reach out to the scared and suffering women out there, whoever they may be and whatever they may have done. Jesus died and rose again to save these precious ones.


Related Links
Washington Post Wrong: Abortion Hurts Women’s Mental Health - LifeNews.com
Does Abortion Hurt Women? - The Center for Bioethical Reform
God's Word on Abortion - BPB (Tony Garland)
Complications You Can Have With Your Abortion - AbortionFacts.com
Late-Term Abortion Practitioner Moving to Iowa, Maryland, Indiana - LifeNews.com