• Approach conversations with compassion and sensitivity.
• Recognize that every individual processes trauma differently.
• Encourage patients to see their abortion experience as part of their life journey rather than their entire identity.
• Break the silence around abortion-related trauma within professional discussions.
• Consider attending a Rachel’s Vineyard retreat to gain deeper insight into post-abortion healing.

If you are talking with someone and she or he shares they’ve had an abortion, ask very open questions, with no judgment or presumptions.

• What was that like for you?
• Did you have any support?
• How do you feel about it now?
• How do you think the abortion has affected you or your life?
• Reassure her: “I’m sorry you went through that.”

It is not uncommon for one who has undergone an abortion to experience complex feelings of guilt, shame, regret, anger, inner wounds, and hurt. Without the opportunity to grieve, process and heal, these feelings can lead to negative self-talk and a damaged self-image. Some have said they feel:

• “I am being punished for what I have done.”
• “I am unworthy of love.”
• “I have no right to grieve or be sad for what has taken place.”
• “I do not have a right to be happy.”
• “I must flee from God’s presence because of what I have done, I am unforgivable.”