After Abortion Healing and Reconciliation for Catholic Women (or Catholic-Friendly) Serving San Diego, and Escondido CA
Our retreats are recognized by the Catholic Diocese of San Diego
Effects of Abortion
- Grief: "If not grieved, the abortion has twice the effect of regular non-abortion pregnancy loss. Women are less likely to be able to mourn the loss with acceptance from family/friends because society says you cannot talk about it." (NEY)
- Anger: Hostility towards many around you and to yourself.
- Depression: Some may experience suicidal thoughts, self-destructive behavior, feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, worthlessness, emptiness, and lower self-esteem. There may also be a preoccupation with death or dying and frequent thoughts of the aborted child.
- Bad Relationships: 80 to 90% of all relationships break down after an abortion, and relationships following the abortion often deteriorate or struggle to survive.
- Fear: "I did something bad and something bad will happen to me or my surviving family." This fear can sometimes manifest as nightmares and phobias.
- Guilt: A sense of feeling estranged from God, an inability to forgive oneself, repeated sacramental confessions, self-punishment, and trying to undo what was done.
- Addictions: Some may face increased incidences of addictions to drugs and alcohol, food, eating disorders, sexual addictions, and work addiction (keeping busy to avoid feeling pain and sadness).
- Physical Disorders: These can include abdominal pains, especially around the anniversary dates of the abortion or the would-be birth date, backaches, sexual disorders, menstrual disorders, infertility, stillbirths, premature births, frequent miscarriages, tubal pregnancies, pelvic inflammatory disease, and breast cancer.
- Difficulty Parenting: Abortion can result in either impatience and abusiveness or overprotectiveness and smothering of surviving children. "An abortion may truncate the initial mother-infant bond, diminishing future mothering capabilities." – Dr. Philip Ney, MD, FRCP(C)
Abortion Aftermath: Post Abortion Syndrome, a journal article on the effects of abortion.
Click on the following links to view posters illustrating the effects of abortion.
Gallery