The negative effects of abortion on women, while not always immediately obvious, should be cause for concern to everyone who cares about women, whether pro-life or pro-choice. The damaging repercussions of abortion can go beyond the physical, often causing psychological and emotional damage.
In 2013, Live Action News’ Kristi Burton Brown discussed a CNN special report in which women shared their regret over past abortions. “Until we meet again,” “Soul-deep ache,” “Self-medicating did not heal my pain” — these were among the tragic titles of the stories shared by women.
On Wednesday, Barbados’ NationalNews featured such a story in it’s advice column, “Dear Christine.” The woman writing the letter began by describing the pain she feels over an abortion committed long ago.
“Right now, as I pen this letter, I am wondering if my baby was a girl or a boy,” she explains. “I am hurting because I would have had a big son or daughter and he or she would have been a real comfort to me.”
The anonymous woman, who in the letter goes by the name “Feeling the Guilt,” goes on to describe her reasons for having the abortion, describing how it made sense at the time, but ending up resulting in sadness and regret:
You name it, I thought I had all the right reasons to have an abortion, but it sure hurts more now… No matter what people may say, abortion is wrong because we are killing an individual and not giving a child the opportunity to grow up and become somebody in life… I will never be able to give my husband a child because the doctor that did the abortion made some error with my womb.
The woman encourages readers who feel that abortion is a “right” to consider that it is more accurately a “wrong.”
In response to the letter, Christine encouraged the woman to find forgiveness and closure, while agreeing that abortion is a regrettable decision. “Many people hold the view that abortion is okay,” writes Christine, “but as you have said in your letter, it’s not a speck of blood, neither is it a case of bringing back a menstrual cycle. Abortion is taking another life.”
This is an important point. The abortion industry so often uses euphemisms to mask what abortion really is and what it does. Even organizations like Planned Parenthood have been caught lying to women about abortion and its risks, as well as about fetal development:
As long as abortion exists, there will be women like “Feeling the Guilt” who need our encouragement, our help, and healing. The taking of a life cannot be undone, but minds can be changed and life can be defended, regardless of past actions. The brave woman who penned this letter to Christine is a great example of this.
