“No one told me how I would feel after the abortion,” said Mary.

“One friend reminded me that abortion is legal… therefore it’s ok,” explained Mary. “Another friend assured me that what I was about to do was a ‘good thing.’ Even my dad told me that having the abortion was the ‘best choice’ considering the circumstances. At the abortion clinic, well, everyone acted as if abortion was no big deal.”

But Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortion in the world, admits that nine out of ten women who have abortions suffer some trauma. This trauma is comparable to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Fay Wattleton, a former president of Planned Parenthood, said, “Who believes that abortion is something other than killing?” Adrienne Asch, a former board member of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), said, “It makes sense to perform abortions in the most humanitarian way possible, but there’s nothing especially humanitarian about death.” Even little girls know that mommies are supposed to care for their babies, not kill them.

Abortion is not natural. It goes against the very nature of a woman. A woman’s body is created to bear and nurture life. This is why so many women who willingly (or unwillingly) choose to have an abortion spend so long in denial. For some, it is a matter of months. For others, it is many long years.

Even the doctors who perform abortions and the nurses who assist them admit to feelings of guilt and remorse. Some hide the guilt so deeply inside that they hearts become hardened. But others express the greatest of sorrows. “I do feel you’d be an abnormal person if you could really honestly say that abortion didn’t bother you at all,” observed one abortionist. “It goes against all things that are natural. It’s a termination of life, however you look at it. It just goes against the grain. It must.”

Many of those once involved in the abortion business have run to the foot of the Cross. It is there that they pray for God–and the women they have hurt–to forgive them.

C.S. Lewis wrote, “Every choice makes you into someone a little different than you were before the choice.” When we make a choice contrary to God’s will, we can either continue to rebel against Him or we can seek harmony with God, others, and ourselves. Only the Holy Spirit can bring such harmony. Only the love of God can bring peace to our souls.

Regret for an abortion and the sadness that follows such a decision may never completely disappear. On the anniversary date of an abortion, it is not unusual to experience flashbacks or depression. Certain sounds may trigger memories of the procedure. Spring, with its burst of new life and hope, is often a time of depression for the mother of an aborted baby. Some women, when in the presence of children, may wonder what their child would have looked like or what they might be doing today.

God promises to bring comfort and “bind up wounds.” Think of how faithful God was to His rebellious people, the Israelites! His own chosen people constantly disobeyed, and yet God said, “[F]ear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

There is no need for self-inflicted punishment. Instead, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones” (Proverbs 3:5-8).

Dear Jesus,

Thank You for reaching down into the pit of my life and rescuing me from despair. You won the victory over all that is evil. You cover me with mercy and love. Because of You, I have a future and a hope. In Your name I pray.

AMEN.

Devotion Six in No More Weeping by Linda Bartlett
http://www.lutheransforlife.org #LFL408