Abortion imprisons
women
By Donetta Robben
Abortion has been in the news lately: A
victory in the
Abortion became legal to “free” women, so
that they had control over their own bodies. But abortion did not free women.
It set a snare forcing women into a dark, empty prison in which they feel abandoned
and alone.
The snare is the same ol’
trick the devil used to deceive Eve into taking a bite of the apple. “If you
eat from the fruit of this tree, you will become like God.”
“If you legalize abortion, you will have
control over your body and your future.”
Before the abortion the devil says such
things as: “You can’t have a baby. What will your parents say? What will your
friends say? How can you raise a child by yourself? You won’t make a good mother. You don’t have enough
money. Don’t you want to save the relationship with your boyfriend?”
After the abortion the
devil says such things as: “You are bad and evil. Don’t tell anyone. Especially
don’t tell your Christian friends. They will never accept what you have done.”
Please don’t fall for the devil’s snare.
Abortion does not end the pain. Abortion begins the pain. And more and more
abortion providers are recognizing this.
So do you know what they do? They provide a
spiritual consultant at the clinic, even baptizing the remains to make the
women “feel” better. Some provide web sites so others can send them e-cards
telling them that their abortion was the best decision.
These tactics force women into their little
internal prisons where they don’t understand why they feel so badly, and they
think something must be wrong with them.
Many will experience anger outbursts,
promiscuous lifestyles, failed relationships, increased alcohol and drug use,
cutting, sleeping disturbances, flashbacks, nightmares and other
self-destructive behaviors.
In a 1987 study of
women who suffered from post-abortion trauma, it was found that 60 percent had
experienced suicidal tendencies. Of these, 28 percent had attempted suicide and
18 percent had attempted suicide more than once.
Abortion produces
despair and leaves women anxious and depressed. Women who say abortion did not
affect them are putting up one or several defense mechanisms
For example, they might practice denial in
which they suppress their memory so well that they actually convince themselves
they did not have an abortion. The problem with this defense is as life travels
down its road, the person will experience the death of a loved one, which will
likely trigger the unresolved grief of their earlier loss.
A second defense
mechanism is projection in which the individual will attribute to another what they are actually feeling themselves. An
example of this is when women are on one side of the street holding up signs
saying they regret their abortions, while women on the other side shout, “I’m
glad I had one. It saved my life.” The anger these women feel toward themselves
is projected onto the women who have received healing and are trying to warn
others.
A third defense is intellectualization in
which a person spends time thinking about the conflict but without experiencing
the emotions involved. They intellectualize that even though they miss their
baby, this was the best decision. It had to be done.
A fourth defense is to withdraw, in which a
person does not allow themselves to think or speak about the abortion or their
feelings.
The neat thing about Rachel’s Vineyard, a
weekend retreat for post-abortion healing, is that it allows women the
opportunity to meet Jesus through scripture exercises. He bends down and takes
her hand and says, “Is there anyone here to condemn you?” And the woman can look up and see the love
and forgiveness Jesus has to offer.
That’s because Jesus, more than anyone,
knows that the woman who has experienced abortion has already stoned herself.
Donetta Robben is a freelance columnist
from Hays. Write to her at