The Suicide of Western Nations: The Abortion Connection
By Kevin Burke, LSW
…I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child… – St Teresa, National Prayer Breakfast, February 3rd 1994, Washington D.C.
Mother Teresa’s comments bring to mind the sudden destruction of a child dwelling peacefully in its mother’s womb. We know that abortion also attacks the peace in the hearts and souls of parents and others that participate in the death of the unborn.
But is it possible for abortion to have an impact on a nation’s domestic and foreign policy…even armed conflict and war?
Immigration is a hot-button issue in the upcoming 2016 election and for many European countries – is there an abortion connection?
Can western nations with their high abortion rates, like individuals suffer from a collective trauma from abortion loss?
The Shockwaves of Abortion
Many of the leaders in business, academia, media and government in western nations have either personally experienced abortion or were part of abortion decisions and procedures. Countless others have been complicit in various ways in the death of millions of their own unborn citizens.
Health care professionals, counselors, educators and family and friends often remain neutral or advocate for abortion when a woman is discerning how to respond to an unplanned pregnancy.
Large segments of the population in western nations have lost an unborn son or daughter or other family members to abortion. Many have participated in various ways in the death of unborn children (e.g., helping pay for a college roommate or sister’s abortion or driving a friend to the abortion center.)
Given the widespread impact of abortion in these countries, they are truly Post Abortive Nations.
Let first look at some relevant post abortion issues that individuals may experience that can help us understand the impact on entire nations:
– We know that women who are traumatized by the procedure, especially those with previous abuse, can lose a sense of healthy personal boundaries and respect for their own bodies. This leads to self destructive and abusive behaviors and relationships.
– A common way that women and men can deny and displace their disenfranchised grief [1] from abortion is by involvement in various forms of political activism and charity work. There is often an unconscious need to atone for the death of the unborn child that fuels their human rights and charitable activities such as advocating for victims of human trafficking, vulnerable children and the poor. Others focus passionately on issues related to impoverished immigrant populations, animal rights and the environment.
– Abortion denial can be powerfully enforced by helping others facing unplanned pregnancy to be similarly “empowered” by having an abortion. On an international level activists with abortions in their personal history seek to expand access to abortion around the world with evangelical fervor.
The symptoms suffered after abortion are rooted in the inability to express and process the feelings and memories from the abortion event and come to a place of healing and peace. The heart of healing is a going through a safe process to express and process those painful feelings and memories, repentance of one’s role in the abortion and most importantly, reconnecting in love with the aborted child or children.
The Impact on Western Nations
Just as some women can struggle with personal boundaries and self destructive behaviors after abortion and other abuse, so too can a nation with its heritage, culture and borders. Post Abortive Nations and their citizens can also share a collective unconscious need to atone for the death of their own unborn children.
This may contribute to a number of serious issues impacting western countries:
– Western nations are no longer preserving and valuing what is best in their culture and heritage as collapsing birthrates and uncontrolled immigration threaten the very existence of some countries.
– Post Abortive Nations are vulnerable to responding to humanitarian crisis and immigration issues in ways that place global and ideological concerns over the needs and rights of their own people.
– There has been a complete denial and repression of our need to individually and collectively mourn the death of close to 60 million unborn babies in the U.S. alone. Government officials and politicians become entangled in foreign conflicts and humanitarian crisis, nation building, and regime change (such as the U.S. in Libya) that may not be in the national interest and often cause chaos and violence in the places of intervention. While there are of course many factors, this collective repressed emotional grief may influence some of the decisions by high level government officials with personal abortion loss, or directly complicit in the death of aborted children.
– The excessive focus and at times obsession with the grievances and rights of those with same sex attraction and the growing transgender madness is at least partly fueled by this collective blindness to personal and national abortion grief.
– The U.S. seems to be losing its bearings. We stand back in disbelief at the acceleration of previously unheard of social engineering in our schools. We have been grossly negligent and impotent as a society to stop the spread of pornography that threatens the moral and social foundation of our society. Music and entertainment continues to glorify the ugliest excesses of a consumer culture that deifies personal gratification, is excessively violent, exploits women, and corrupts innocence.
Restoring National Sanity…Before It’s Too Late
The Supreme Court decision to legalize abortion has had far reaching effects on the citizens of the United States and all western nations.
This upcoming election here in the U.S. provides a clear and decisive moment when we can begin to retreat from the precipice of self-destruction. It is time to stop the expansion of the culture of death, here and abroad, so our nation can begin to heal.
Urge your friends, family and colleagues at work to get to the polls this November 8th 2016, and vote for candidates that will protect our most vulnerable citizens in the womb. Our nation’s survival may depend on it.