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Breaking the Silence
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Saskatoon Diocesan Newspaper, Fall 2010 Edition
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Friday, October 1, 2010
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I would like to tell you about a campaign called Silent No More Awareness that has been present in Saskatchewan for two and one half years now. This is an international Christian organization, based in the United States. The people involved in this campaign are mostly women and men who have experienced the devastating effects of abortion. The purpose of the campaign is to break the silence about the effects of abortion on women, men and families. It is to counteract the rhetoric that claims that women have the right to abortion and that it’s a good thing because it solves the “problem” of unplanned pregnancy. Women are told that it’s a simple, safe procedure and that it’s no more traumatic than getting a tooth pulled.
There are many of us who have discovered the hard way that this is simply not true. We want the public to know about our experiences in the hope that it will prevent others from making the same mistake we made. So we tell our stories of pain and regret. But we also tell about how God’s forgiveness and mercy have restored us. So another reason for telling our stories is the hope that it will point others, who are suffering from the consequences of abortion, to the help and healing that we have experienced.
There is no question that abortion kills children. Because of that fact, abortion also hurts those who have them. I quote from the book, The Jericho Plan by Dr. David Reardon, a man who has been doing research on post abortion issues for many years, “It is simply impossible to rip a child from a mother’s womb without tearing out a part of the woman herself.” Dr. Julius Fogel, a gynecologist and psychiatrist who has personally performed over 20,000 abortions, states the following: “Every woman, whatever her age, background or sexuality, has a trauma in destroying a pregnancy. A level of humanness is touched. This is part of her own life. When she destroys a pregnancy, she is destroying a part of herself.” Yet pro-abortion groups and our laws, or lack thereof, tell women that it’s no big deal and that is our legal right. And many people believe that anything that is legal is also morally right.
There is much evidence to indicate that the majority of women who have abortions do not freely choose to do so. There is often coercion, many are forced or threatened, many are without anyone to support them when they find themselves in an unplanned pregnancy. The book, Her Choice to Heal states the following: “A woman does not want an abortion like she wants a new car or an ice cream cone, but like an animal caught in a trap who gnaws off it’s own leg to get free”. Studies show that 70% of women who have abortions believe it is morally wrong. They act against their consciences because they feel trapped by their situation and in that time of crisis see no other way out. In many cases self-preservation is also a key component in the abortion decision, causing women to look at their own needs before the needs of the baby they carry. At the time abortion seems like the quick, easy way or the only way out of a tough situation.
There are many psychological, physical and spiritual consequences to abortion. Because of denial, these consequences may remain unrecognized as being connected to the abortion for many years. Some of the most common are feelings of guilt, shame and anger, depression and anxiety, relationship problems, suicidal tendencies, eating disorders, drug and alcohol addiction, spiritual alienation from God, loss of self esteem, infertility, increased risk of miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy and increased risk of breast cancer.
There is hope and healing after abortion. Programs like Rachel’s Vineyard offer an opportunity to come to terms with the abortion, to receive God’s mercy, forgiveness and healing. We who have made the terrible choice of aborting our babies cannot change what we did. However we can change what we do now. Pope John Paul II stated in Evangelium Vitae that post-abortive women can be among the most eloquent defenders of life. One way we can do that is by being “Silent No More” about our experience.
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