The Grieving Process

1. Relief

You may have experienced a sense of relief following your abortion. For awhile you felt your problems were over.

2. Denial and Rationalization

“It was something I had to do.” “It was just a blob of tissue.” “It was legal, so it’s okay.” These are commonly heard statements. Denial of truth robs you of the opportunity to be healed through grieving.

3. Realization and Shock

The understanding of what abortion really is follows and can be overwhelming. You may realize that you killed your baby. With this knowledge, you may slip back into the denial stage telling yourself that it was something you had to do; or you then move into the most painful part of the grieving process.

4. Anger and Depression

The full force of the abortion has hit. You feel angry, betrayed, grief stricken, or depressed. Thoughts of suicide may nudge you. Life seems almost hopeless at times. Unexplainable rage, guilt, remorse, or self-hatred overwhelm you. You may suffer from insomnia, nightmares and flashbacks. Maybe you drink, take drugs, or indulge in casual sex hoping to fill the emptiness inside and stop the hurting. You think about your baby now and wish you could undo your abortion. All these feelings are normal. Now is the time to seek God and counsel from an understanding minister, counselor, or friend.

5. Acceptance and Surrender

For your healing to be complete you must seek and accept forgiveness for yourself. With God’s help forgive others. Daily you need to surrender your anger, bitterness and self-hatred to Christ. Hanging on to them will destroy you.

You will always remember the child you never knew here on earth. The memory is not wiped away with the healing—only the tears.

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How To
Survive
Your
Abortion