Post Abortion trauma

Post Abortion trauma

A woman chooses abortion because she is not ready to accept the consequences of her pregnancy, whether it involves single motherhood, the exposure of her sexual activity, or anger of boyfriend or parents. But abortion also has serious and long-lasting consequences. Much of the following material was taken from articles by David Reardon, of the Elliot Institute. Those articles and others are available at www.afterabortion.org.
See our information sheet, "Abortion Risks and Consequences" for more details and references.

depression

Physical risks:
o Complications in later pregnancies. Among teenagers who aborted their first pregnancy, 66% experienced miscarriage or premature birth of their second child. o The risk of breast cancer almost doubles after one abortion, and rises even further with two or more abortions.

Psychological risks:
o Abortion is linked with increased depression, violent behavior, alcohol and drug abuse, replacement pregnancies, and reduced maternal bonding with children born subsequently. These factors are closely associated with child abuse and would appear to confirm individual clinical assessments linking post-abortion trauma with subsequent child abuse.
o Repeat abortions: While many women become pregnant again after abortion, for a variety of reasons, abortion is often chosen again for many of the same reasons as for the earlier abortion(s).

45% of women having abortions have had one or more previous abortions.

Women with > 1 abortion
- more likely to require public assistance
- more likely to become single parents .
Households headed by single woman 31% are below poverty line.
Households headed by married couple 6% are below poverty line
Almost half of children living only with their mother are poor.

Healing ministries are available to help women find forgiveness and healing from God. See our information sheet " Abortion Recovery" for more information.
See our Referrals for Help page for information on local and online resources.