The subject of terminating a pregnancy is an issue like no other, which places a woman in conflict with her very essence – the bringing forth of life. Since 1973, America, similar to many western cultures, have placed the needs of the individual above the needs of the group. We speak of individual rights and freedoms without realizing that all privileges come with responsibilities. It takes a whole village to raise a child because in doing so we transmit common moral, ethical, and spiritual values. Our homes, our churches, and our schools at one time transmitted common values. We knew who we were as men, women, and children in a world infested with the plagues of greed, racism, hatred, and evil.
As a woman I have grown up being encouraged to “find myself’ and to seek that which will make me happy first at the expense of others. I have been told that I can have it all, have it my way, and that I can be a superwoman! What I have found is that I grow tired, overworked, unappreciated, and struggling to maintain my many obligations and perceptions. While society encourages me to “find myself” and to seek its version of self-esteem, the result is the loss of the realization of my divine purpose. So in my struggle to shield myself from pain, I harbored a secret. But once I shared my deepest secret, I found true freedom. I say all this as a basis for today’s post.
Many people believe that women can have an abortion, and that it won’t further affect anyone after the termination of the pregnancy. This is untrue. You start with the baby, but the effects don’t stop there. The abortion affects the mother, emotionally and physically. Abortion is an unnatural process that interrupts one of the primary functions of the human body. A woman’s body naturally resists the abortion, causing physical and emotional problems.
One of the most disturbing things about this is that many women aren’t informed about the side-effects of abortion. The Supreme Court, in 1986, ruled that women don’t have to be informed about these risks before the abortion. As a result, 80% of women who have had abortions said their counselors gave “…little or no information about the potential health risks which might follow the surgery.” and 68% felt “…the procedure was not described with any degree of depth of clarity.” (Aborted Women: Silent No More by David Reardon, Crossway Books, 1987)
In 1963, Planned Parenthood’s ‘Plan Your Children’ pamphlet stated, “An abortion kills the life of a baby after it has begun. It is dangerous to your life and health.” What happened in the span of 10 years when Roe v. Wade was passed? Did abortion suddenly become safe?
The legalization of abortion doesn’t just affect the women who have abortions and the babies aborted. Abortion affects every one of us alive today. In the late 1960s and early 1970s abortion rights supporters promised that through the legalization of abortion society would be improved. Fewer teenagers would become pregnant. Child abuse would drop. Children would only live in homes that could support them. Children would live in more loving homes and crime rates would drop. Yet, either because of or coincidentally with the ruling of Roe vs. Wade, history has shown the opposite. Abortion has opened up a “back way out:” an excuse to have uncontrolled behavior. Our society, and the children who have grown up in the abortion-filled world, have been negatively affected.
- Since abortion was legalized in 1973, the number of reported cases of child abuse has increased by 1,497%, from 167,000 in 1973 to 2.5 million in 1991.
- Since Roe v. Wade, the number of juvenile violent crime arrest rates has almost doubled, from 215.9 arrests per 100,000 people in 1970, to 430.6 arrests per 100,000 people in 1990.
- Researcher Emily Milling studied over 400 couples with women who had made a decision to have an abortion. 70% of the relationships ended within one month of the abortion.
- Since Roe v. Wade, the number of children relying on AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) has risen from 8.5 per cent (of all children) in 1970 to 11.9 per cent in 1990. The number of children living in poverty has increased, from 15.1 per cent (of all children) in 1970 to 20.6 per cent in 1990.
- Since Roe v. Wade, the number of teen pregnancies has more than doubled, from 4.94 per cent (of all teenagers) in 1972 to 9.92 per cent in 1990.
- Since Roe v. Wade, the number of teen abortions has increased, from 19.9 per thousand teenagers in 1972, to 43.8 per thousand teenagers in 1990, while the number of teen births has increased from 22.8 per thousand teenagers to 42.5 per thousand teenagers in 1990.
- Since Roe v. Wade, the number of births to unmarried women has increased, from 10.7 per cent (of all births) in 1970, to 28.0 per cent in 1990.
- Since Roe v. Wade, the number of pregnancies ending in abortion has increased, from 12.9 per cent (of total pregnancies) in 1972, to 24.6 per cent in 1990.
The impact abortion has on society is devastating. Although abortion proponents say that they want it to be safe and rare, it is now the most common medical procedure performed in the United States. It affects one in four pregnancies and almost forty percent of women who have had an abortion have had more than one. With over 1.3 million abortions performed each year in this country alone, you do the math. Even if you’re not a mathematical wizard, it adds up to more than 100 million affected since 1973.
The secrecy surrounding a past abortion is traumatic. That’s why Initiative 180 was formed to help break down the walls of silence for the post-abortive to share the message of hope and recovery to millions who suffer silently. One way we do this is through Initiative 180’s program of recovery … Peace After the Storm. Imagine the impact to this country if each person who has been hurt by abortion finds wholeness once again through Jesus Christ … imagine the power each person would have to this world when they find their “voice” and share what Christ has done in their own lives. For more information, go to http://initiative180.org
Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Tagged: abortion recovery, Christians in culture, courage, pro-life
