The journey to healing after an abortion takes women and abortion workers down many different avenues. Many women name their aborted children, and some hold memorial services for them. Others share their stories publicly to encourage others not to make the same mistakes.
In the country of Georgia, a group of women who had abortions and former abortion doctors recently decided to build a church together as part of their healing process, News Georgia reports.
Here’s more from the report:
The group recently met with His Holiness Patriarch-Catholicos Ilia II of Georgia to receive his blessing for their penitential undertaking. He blessed them and wished them luck in building their new church near Tbilisi by the Haddonstone Forest, dedicated to the Holy Trinity.
“Under the conditions of the atheistic regime many didn’t comprehend how great a sin abortion is, considering it a normal occurrence. After a large part of our population began a Church life, mothers and gynecologists, troubled by their sin of abortion, began to have the desire to build a church in the name of the Holy Trinity as a sign of contrition,” notes a message from the Patriarchate.
Abortion is legal in the Eurasian nation. Once under Communist control, Georgia’s abortion rate is high, but it is dropping. According to the report, about 33,000 unborn babies lost their lives to abortion in 2014 in Georgia – about 7,000 fewer than in 2012.
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The Orthodox Church, a strong influence in Georgia, has been urging the nation to protect unborn babies and outlaw abortions, EurasiaNet reports. Government officials also are concerned about the impact abortion is having on its population numbers, the report states.
Unborn babies’ deaths by abortion often have devastating effects on the women who have them and those who help perform them, too. Studies have linked abortion to increased risks of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress and other psychological problems among women.
In response, many Christian churches and organizations have formed programs to help women and former abortion workers heal and forgive themselves for their aborted baby’s death. The international abortion healing program Rachel’s Vineyard offers confidential, compassionate weekend retreats to help people work through the pain and loss of an abortion experience.
