Don’t let anyone tell you your emotions aren’t valid. They are real. Many women struggle with sadness, anger, shame, and regret after an abortion. It can be a traumatic experience. But, healing through post-abortion counseling is also real.
You are not alone on this journey. There are people ready to assist you, free from any judgment and condemnation.
A Time to Grieve
The Mayo Clinic describes grief as “… the natural reaction to loss.” It seems strange to use the words “grief” and “natural” in the same sentence, but grief is definitely a common reaction to loss.
Oregon State University’s Catherine Beckett states in Counseling Today, “Clients who have had abortions sometimes question whether they have the right to grieve because there was a choice involved to terminate their pregnancies.”
Post-abortion feelings inlcude grief. You have every right to grieve, and it’s essential to give yourself the time.
The Deafening Silence
Women feel they can’t talk about their abortion even though it’s legal, firmly supported in mainstream and social media, and reinforced with our current presidential administration. If abortion, according to providers, offers relief and closure to a difficult situation, why is it not discussed? The silence is deafening for many women.
Licensed family therapist Trudy Johnson, who had an abortion during her college years said, “[Many] women have had an abortion, but you think you’re alone. It’s a gut-level thing, a tender place. Many have never told a soul.”
Pro-abortion publications say the reason women do not talk about their abortions is apparent: “it’s a personal decision.” It is a woman’s right to privacy. True. Abortion is a genuinely personal and intimate decision, but women talk about many private personal choices with each other. Is it privacy, or is it secrecy out of sadness?
You need a special place where you can, without judgment, talk freely about your experience with abortion. A place where counselors will keep your confidence and respect the uniqueness of your post-abortion heartache.
Finding Hope and Healing
It is important to speak to someone who understands intimately the fear you felt before the abortion and the regret you felt afterward. You want a counseling program that provides a place where you can grieve and learn to forgive yourself. Project Rachel offers such hope and healing.
Both women and men who’ve been affected by abortion are welcome to participate in Project Rachel. There’s no pressure to share your abortion story, but there is freedom to do so. Through year-round one-on-one meetings, on-going healing groups, a web-based healing study, and one day or weekend retreats, you will learn there is healing and forgiveness.
Knowing you are loved and accepted is the desire of your heart. The counselors at Project Rachel will walk you through the grief process and move you and your future forward. Please, give us a call, text, or email. Visit our website for phone numbers and email addresses. We are ready to meet you where you are.