A North Carolina therapist confirmed that millions of women suffer devastating emotional trauma after aborting their unborn babies.
In a column at The Fayetteville Observer, licensed clinical therapist Adam Fadel said Americans on both sides of the abortion debate need to recognize that many women struggle in silence because they fear “rejection and judgment.”
“… denying trauma from an abortion is no different than denying trauma from sexual abuse or neglect — it irresponsibly keeps people from becoming their best selves,” he wrote.
Fadel said about 20 of his patients have told him about abortions in their past through his work at The Corner: Institute for Transformation in Charlotte, a counseling center that he founded.
“And for each of them, the abortion was a traumatic experience on top of many traumas beforehand, often including sexual abuse. They saw abortion as the only way out of a terrible situation — an abusive relationship, being kicked out of their home, or being unable to find a job and earn an income,” he said.
Their abortions did not heal the pain and trauma of other past hurts and, in many cases, added to their struggles, Fadel continued. He cited a study from Support After Abortion that found 34 percent of post-abortive women experienced regret, anger, grief and shame afterward and felt like they had no one to talk to about their pain.
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He implied that some women suffer silently because of pro-abortion campaigns like “Shout Your Abortion” that seek to “normalize” abortion and make killing unborn babies seem like no big deal. Abortion activists often claim most women do not regret their abortions either, making women who do feel like there is something wrong with them and they are alone in their struggles.
Fadel said the idea that very few women regret their abortions comes from The Turnaway Study by pro-abortion researchers at the University of California San Francisco. The study — which has numerous flaws, according to pro-life research scientists – found that only 5 percent of women regret their abortions.
“The Turnaway Study is regularly cited by major media outlets as a rebuttal against the idea that abortion harms mothers who terminate their pregnancies,” Fadel wrote. “But even 5% of women who have had an abortion is a huge number. Guttmacher estimates that 23.7% of women have abortions, which using the Turnaway Study’s numbers means that nearly two million women regret their abortion.
“Leaving these women to suffer in silence is a disservice to them, their families, and their communities,” he continued.
As state and federal lawmakers fight about abortion laws now that Roe v. Wade is gone, Fadel urged politicians and advocates on both sides to remember that women who regret their abortions are suffering and they deserve healing.
“As abortion continues to be debated across the state, therapists, lawmakers, abortion advocates, and abortion opponents must put aside differences and make [post-abortive women] a priority,” he wrote.
Many pregnancy resource centers and churches provide post-abortion counseling and other services. Rachel’s Vineyard is one of the largest post-abortion healing ministries in the world, offering retreats and other resources to help women and men grieve the loss of their aborted child and find forgiveness.
Also, many men and women in the pro-life movement are mothers and fathers of aborted babies. Their pro-life work comes from the knowledge of the destruction and pain of abortion, the loss of their unborn child and the hope that they can provide so that mothers never have to feel that aborting their child is a solution to their problems.
