HEALING AFTER ABORTION

I felt prompted to speak out about grace after abortion after watching the numerous videos exposing Planned Parenthood. While I hate the abortion industry and what it stands for, I do not hate women. What echoed through my mind, as my newsfeed filled with story after story of the atrocities at these clinics, were the women who fell victim to the lies and deceptions that now need to know they are not beyond God’s grace.  I believe there are millions of women who need to know that Jesus can to take their secret pain and make them whole.

I use the word “whole” intentionally. I’ve walked through the healing process with numerous friends who carry this pain, and I know that wholeness is something these women desperately desire. While many attempt to ignore the pain, suppressing it with all sorts of distractions and denials, the sad reality is this: the grief will surface at some point, in some fashion. I know women in their late 60s who are dealing with the pain from thirty years ago.

There are numerous psychological and medical terms describing a woman’s grief following an abortion. From Post Abortion Syndrome to PTSD, the fact is that an abortion is not just a medical procedure, as many would want us to believe. No, this choice affects a woman’s soul at the deepest levels.  A woman is designed to protect her womb and when violence has occurred against her child, it strikes her at the very core of her being. As a result, many women are left to deal with the resulting violation in silence. Some are silent out of shame and others from pressure by pro-choice groups who wants us to pretend there are no consequences to this perceived “right.”

Whatever reason for the silence, when the sin is suppressed it goes unhealed.

Wholeness is the beautiful gift offered to us by the God, who heals. Jesus came to bind up the brokenhearted and heal our wounds. If we bring our pain, shame and brokenness to Jesus, He stands ready to mend wounds. In order to heal, a woman must …

1. BELIEVE HEALING IS POSSIBLE:

When I think of Jesus, my mind not only goes to my own experiences of profound mercy, but I can’t help but think of the number of women in scripture, who discovered unconditional love and grace in Him as well. These women were outcasts from their communities and carried tremendous cultural shame, but in the eyes of Jesus, they found forgiveness. Let’s never forget that Jesus is God, who came to dwell among us, to make us new and to bind up our wounds. This is the Jesus we discover in the pages of scripture, and this is the Healer I met in the areas of my deepest shame. When anyone truly encounters Him, they are transformed. His love penetrates to the deepest levels of our brokenness, bringing hope and healing.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Psalm 147:3

2. BRING YOUR SECRET INTO THE LIGHT:

I recently asked a friend what brought about healing from her abortion. She replied, “Healing is a process. In many ways, I am still in the process. But the journey to wholeness began when I brought the secret out of the dark and into the light. As long as I kept it a secret, Satan had grounds to accuse me and to speak accusations over me. When I brought it into the light and confessed it to trusted friends who love Jesus, then I was able to begin my journey of healing. Confession is the first step of healing. The word of God tells us:

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.
The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
James 5:16

Jesus is the Light of the World. When we bring our sin and shame out of the darkness and to Him, we are washed clean.

3. BE WILLING TO SEEK HELP.  

There are so many wonderful resources available for women (and men) post abortion.  Here are few recommendations:

Ministries:

P.A.C.E. (Post Abortion Counseling & Education) PACE Provides referrals for individual or group post-abortion peer counseling services throughout the country. (800) 395-HELP

If Not For Grace Ministries www.infg.org

Resources:

This study was developed out of Linda Cochrane’s own experience of being freed from the bondage of guilt and grief that followed her abortion. Forgiven and Set Free guides suffering and hurting women to bring their emotional scars from abortion “out of the dark past and into his holy light,” where true and lasting healing can take place. Appropriate Scriptures help women deal with issues such as relief, denial, anger, forgiveness, depression, letting go, and acceptance.

Her Choice to Heal is designed to help women find a way to God’s healing after this devastating choice. Written by a post-abortive woman, it includes testimonies of strength, healing and hope.  Sydna compassionately leads you on the difficult journey through denial, anger, and grief, to forgiveness, redemption, and letting go.  Her Choice to Heal offers a roadmap to healing – practical suggestions, resources for help, space to journal, with the encouragement and hope found in Christ alone.

Writing from her own experience, Kim Ketola sheds light on one of the darkest and most neglected personal issues of our time: the widespread need for healing and spiritual recovery after abortion. After abortion brought the worst trouble into my life I had ever known, writes Ketola, I just couldn’t see my way free to believe in God s love. With a compassionate heart, Ketola offers ten true stories of healing promise from the Bible to help women answer the most common spiritual torments they face–this is a definitive resource to help women see themselves and God anew and–finally–to find spiritual healing.

I pray these resources are a help to any woman who needs healing from abortion. Please connect with us and we will pray for you.

-Marian