Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this guest post are solely those of the author and are not necessarily reflective of Live Action or Live Action News.
Recently while scrolling through comments left in the article feedback section of a pro-life website, I was shocked and grieved to read one person’s remark, left in response to a post-abortive woman’s story of anguish. The comment read: “I hope you experience trauma for the rest of your life. You deserve it.”
I was dumbfounded.
Is this how Christ would have responded?
Contrast that persons remark to the response of a very different sort, offered by my dear friend, Sandy, to a hurting post-abortive woman whom she encountered in a darkened movie theater.
It was just a few years ago, when my friend Sandy had taken her mother to see the gripping movie “Unplanned.” They were deeply impacted by this movie, chronicling the story of Abby Johnson’s journey of transformation from a Planned Parenthood clinic director to an ardent pro-life advocate. Sandy was particularly moved, knowing my healing journey.
While leaving the theater, Sandy spotted a woman weeping near the back row. Sandy’s compassionate heart led her to approach the woman, introduce herself, and ask if there was anything she could do to be of help.
“Hannah” tearfully said she had an abortion 35 years ago. She “felt the movie was cathartic” as it “showed the truth about abortion,” and “validated her trauma.”
Sandy offered Christ’s compassion to Hannah, which included her offer to call me right then and put me on the phone with her, explaining to Hannah how Christ had helped me to heal after my own abortion. Hannah readily accepted Sandy’s offer.
Hannah spoke quietly into the phone, pouring out her heart to me, as she stood in the near empty theater. She shared how she recently became a Christian, and how God had drawn her over the past three years to deal with her abortion history. She had stuffed her emotional pain and had resorted to negative coping strategies all these years.
She said with conviction, “I believe all the problems in my life have stemmed from my abortion.”
READ: Post-abortive women at increased risk of mental health issues after subsequent pregnancies
Hannah’s pain is not unique. Just recently, on an abortion recovery website I host, another woman contacted me expressing grief over an abortion from 27 years ago. She is still struggling with deep sadness and regret over her loss.
Given the tragic reality of 60 million abortions since Roe v. Wade, I can only imagine the sea of silent mourners across our nation. What would happen if these women and men were encouraged to express their grief and experience healing?
What if Christians were more proactive in fostering healing discussions about post-abortion pain, and in sharing the many abortion recovery resources available—such as abortion recovery Bible study support groups offered by pro-life pregnancy help centers, or online healing communities, to name a few?
My friend Sandy displayed such a beautiful example of Christ’s redemptive heart to Hannah that day. As I reflect on that “God encounter” in a movie theater that day, I pray it remind us that our Christ-centered response may change the world of someone hurting after abortion.
In fact, I later received a number of follow-up letters from Hannah. One stated, “Thank you for your testimony booklet you mailed to me. You have helped me in so many ways. I know God is leading me through this journey of healing. It is exciting to see how He is working in my life.” She later wrote another update on how God continues to heal her heart. She shared how she is prayerfully contemplating practical ways to use her story to help others and advance the pro-life cause.
We may never know the ripple effect of healing and redemptive transformation that God will accomplish through our loving outreach to a post-abortive woman or man. Those healed of abortion trauma often become some of the most passionate, effective, and powerful ambassadors of LIFE — speaking on behalf of the unborn, crying out to end abortion, volunteering at pregnancy help centers, starting healing ministries, you name it — and doing it all for love, for life, and for the glory of God.
Bio: Susan Justice is a retired nurse, an author and speaker sharing the devastation of abortion and her healing through Jesus Christ. Susan is affiliated with OperationOutcry.org, a ministry of The Justice Foundation. Her recently published booklet, Out of Grief and Into Wholeness: Finding Healing through Christ after Abortion, can be found on Amazon. Susan hosts an online healing space, heart2heartabortionrecovery.
[Pictured: Author Susan Justice (right) with her friend Sandy (left)]
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