The Abortion Pill: The Psychological Experience of Labor and Delivery in the Home
by Kevin Burke, LSW
Counselor Cullen Herout has an important article on home based chemical abortions in Crisis Magazine.
Cullen shares that in March 2016 the FDA approved the use of the abortion pill Mifespristone for women up to 10 weeks pregnant. Over half of all abortions in the United States are chemical abortions and this number will likely continue to rise.
Like Cullen, I also serve as a counselor on Rachel’s Vineyard Retreats for women and men suffering after abortion. Couples often rationalize that the abortion pill merely initiates an early miscarriage. They are tempted to see the pills as an easier solution than a medical procedure at the abortion center. However the actual experience of the abortion pill can be a shocking and traumatic event.
On a recent Rachel’s Vineyard retreat, a couple shared their traumatic chemical abortion story. The mother was 6 weeks pregnant and after an extended period of severe cramping the child was delivered in their bathroom. The father had to fish the tiny child out of the toilet.
The father buried the child in their back yard. He frequently visited the “grave site” as he struggled to process the grief and trauma of that event. They found significant emotional and spiritual healing of that experience on their Rachel’s Vineyard weekend, but they remain wounded by that abortion individually, and as a couple.
What are the possible psychological and physical trauma associated with chemical abortion in the home?
What happens to couples when their home becomes the abortion center and procedure room?
Please read Cullen’s article to learn more.
We need to increase our efforts to educate the public about the reality of chemical abortion. Women and their partners need to understand the psychological risks of at-home abortions and the likely individual and relational impact of labor and delivery of early pregnancies in the home.
I turned and walked through the doors of the Pregnancy Resource Connection.
It was like a match made in Heaven…literally I believe. Through a series of events where God opened doors I came to offer the F&SF at PRC and serve on the RV Team in Colorado.
I hope and pray that others might consider how both these programs could provide a comprehensive outreach to the many women and men who have experienced abortion loss. This can occur with one ministry offering both programs or like in our case by networking between different organizations or churches.