By: Patti Smith, Regional Coordinator for San Diego

This weekend I was blessed with the opportunity to facilitate a Rachel’s Hope healing retreat for post-abortive women.

For two and a half days, I witnessed the excruciating emotional suffering abortion inflicts on vulnerable and frightened women.  Thanks to Planned Parenthood and other abortion facilities, these women had the procedure not knowing or being advised of the devastating psychological, spiritual and physical trauma waiting for them years afterwards.  Trauma waiting to attack every aspect of their lives … their self-esteem, self-worth, relationships, faith, employment, parenting, etc.

The process of healing is emotional and  painful but the result is worth it, but as these courageous and injured women started the process, they could not yet feel the love, forgiveness and hope to come from God’s infinite mercy.  While listening to their stories and watching the tears flow down their cheeks, my mind wandered back to the time I too fell victim to the misleading rhetoric.  My heart threatened to break into tiny little pieces but, praise God, through the healing I received, I had the tools to avert a complete melt-down.

As I reflected on the past few days, my commitment to pro-life and the Silent No More Awareness Campaign grew tenfold. (It was already at 100% so watch out!)  Planned Parenthood and their counterparts should  be more than willing to advise their clients of the potential side effects of abortion.  They claim to be the major defender and caring (?) provider of women’s healthcare, after all.  But then, if the truth were known, women would think twice about abortion and clinics would no longer rake in the millions of dollars, forcing them to close their doors (what a wonderful thought) thus saving the lives of our precious unborn and the hearts and souls of the mothers and others involved in the abortion decision.

Abortion providers not only profit from the death of an innocent life, but they also take advantage of the frightened, the poor, the coerced, the vulnerable and the misinformed.  They must be stopped.

“America, your very future as a nation depends on your
willingness to protect the Right to Life of the
 most of the most defenseless in your society.” –Pope John Paul II

For more of Patti’s writings, visit her blog.