ABORTION HURTS
(Physically. Mentally. Emotionally.)
“I used to be a nurse in an abortion facility. I told the women that their pregnancy was just a blob of tissue and that they wouldn’t feel a thing. Women were physically hurt in that clinic. One even died.”
—Bernice
“Abortion changes you forever. I thought the abortion would free me from a responsibility I felt I was not ready for. Instead it held me in bondage to feelings of regret, remorse, depression and despair. My soul became a slave to self-hatred and worthlessness. My sanity was the price I paid. Women deserve better than abortion.”
—Ann Marie
In addition to these psychological problems, women are susceptible to serious physical complications due to the nature of the procedures used to abort children.
Perforation of the uterus
- Hemorrhaging that requires transfusion
- Cardiac Arrest
- Endotoxic Shock
- Major unintended surgery
- Infection resulting in hospitalization
- Convulsions
- Cervical laceration
- Uterine rupture
- Death
Women who have had abortions are more likely to face the following health complications:
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Infertility
- Hysterectomy
- Stillbirth
- Miscarriage
- Premature Birth
After-Abortion Trauma
After-abortion trauma is the emotional and psychological impact sometimes experienced by women (and even men) after an abortion. Symptoms are similar to those in any post traumatic stress disorder and are listed below:
- Bouts of crying
- Depression or despair
- Guilt
- Inability to forgive yourself
- Intense grief / sadness
- Anger / rage
- Emotional numbness
- Sexual problems or promiscuity
- Eating disorders
- Lowered self esteem
- Drug and alcohol abuse
- Nightmares and sleep disturbances
- Suicidal urges
- Difficulty with relationships
- Anxiety and panic attacks
- Flashbacks
- Multiple abortions
- Pattern of repeat crisis pregnancy
- Discomfort around babies or pregnant women
- Fear / ambivalence of pregnancy
The uncomfortable feelings associated with an abortion may not appear all together. Nor will each woman or man possess all of them. Symptoms may appear immediately—as in hours, days, weeks or months—or may not surface for 2–20 years following the procedure.
The physical and psychological consequences of abortion are devastating. Countless women have come forward to share their stories about the aftermath of abortion.
Read some of their accounts at
www.silentnomoreawareness.org/testimonies
www.abortionrecovery.org
There is hope and healing after abortion.
