Begin Again
...there can be hope and healing
after abortion

Abortion is one of the most traumatic experiences
a person can have...

Mothers and Fathers of the unborn,
close friends, and medical personnel can suffer.
Frequently the trauma is manifested by some of the following symptoms:

• Low self-esteem
• Nightmares
• Depression
• Guilt
• Outbursts of anger
• Suicidal thoughts
• Eating and sleeping disorders
• Relationship problems
• Sexual dysfunction
• Anxiety
• Drug and alcohol abuse
• Promiscuity
• Postpartum depression or psychosis
  after future births

The Lord
wants to forgive you.
Come to Him in the beautiful
Sacrament of forgiveness!

One woman's story...

I did not want to have the abortion.  I was 23 years old and scared.  My boyfriend was pressuring me heavily into getting it.  I wanted the baby so badly that I refused to take anything for my upset stomach, even though the abortion was scheduled already.  The night before I was scheduled to go, I lay in bed and sobbed and told him I didn't think I could do it, I didn't want to do it.  He just looked at me and coldly said, "You're not going to act  like this tomorrow, are you?"  The next day he took me to the clinic. I had to go in to speak to a counselor first, who explained what they were going to do.  I literally almost fainted.  She said it was only because I didn't have breakfast that day (it surely couldn't be from what she was telling me).  She herself was about 7 months pregnant!  I don't remember much about the procedure itself.  I was under general anesthesia.  The thing I remember most about the whole ordeal was coming out of the anesthesia and very clearly thinking I had just made a mistake that I would never be able to go back and change.  NEVER!  It was too late and too permanent.  There was  no going back.  That was 12 years ago.  I am happily married now, with 3 beautiful daughters; my life is almost perfect, but the memory and agony and guilt of what I have done will never leave me.  Even as I look at my children, I feel like one is missing.  About 5 years ago I went to a priest and confessed what I had done.  The priest told me God has forgiven me and loves me.  I do believe God has forgiven me, but I have never been able to forgive myself and probably never will.  By the way, my boyfriend was gone less than two years later. --Eileen

Peace and forgiveness
can be found...
trust the Lord,
confess,
and find His Healing Grace!

Words from our Holy Father...

"I would now like to say a special word to women who have had an abortion. The Church is aware of the many factors which may have influenced your decision, and she does not doubt that in many cases it was a painful and even shattering decision. The wound in your heart may not yet have healed. Certainly what happened was and remains terribly wrong. But do not give in to discouragement and do not lose hope. Try rather to understand what happened and face it honestly. If you have not already done so, give yourselves over with humility and trust to repentance. You will come to understand that nothing is definitely lost and you will also be able to ask forgiveness from your child, who is now living in the Lord. With the friendly and expert help and advice of other people, and as a result of your own painful experience, you can be among the most eloquent defenders of everyone's right to life.
Through your commitment to life, whether by accepting the birth of other children or by welcoming and caring for those most in need of someone to be close to them, you will become promoters of a new way of looking at human life."

Pope John Paul II
Evangelium Vitae

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