Physical and Psychological Complications of Abortion

The Second Victims of Abortion

For every child who dies in an abortion there is at least one other victim--the mother of that child. Many women find they have not only allowed the destruction of the lives of their children but also damage to their own lives.

Physical and emotional complications result from a decision that was often made out of fear and desperation. In this vulnerable state of mind, they are taken advantage of by a billion-dollar-a-year industry that offers what seems at the time to be the only "convenient" solution to an "inconvenient" problem. What these women don't know is that this decision is often full of lifelong consequences far worse than the immediate crisis of the pregnancy.

How can she be a victim? She made "the choice." Any girl or woman who considers abortion and goes through the moral anguish of "Should I or Shouldn't I?" "Is it right or is it wrong?" knows that in the deepest recesses of her heart and soul it is not right. Yet she is encouraged by her boyfriend or husband, her family and friends, the secular media, feminists, Planned Parenthood, and sometimes even her pastor that it is the best thing for her. And most significantly by her physician, who is telling her with his or her authority and all the respect granted the medical community that they can take care of her "problem." That they can take care of this "invading tissue" that is not really yet human and for a fee - for her money - they can perform a "procedure" to kill her baby and then she can go on with life as "normal." This billion dollar a year industry and doctors who do abortions have a very powerful vested interest in selling her the lie that it is all perfectly safe, healthy, normal, and routine.

It's at that point that she becomes a victim--a victim of lies and false information. In all fairness, sometimes the husband or boyfriend and parents will encourage the woman to give birth, but then usually--not always, but usually--you don't have a victim of abortion, you have a mother who gives birth to her child.

While the majority of aborting women disapproved of abortion, they resorted to abortion because they felt forced by their parents, boyfriends or husbands. Sometimes circumstances were such that there just did not seem to be a better alternative. David Reardon states that 83% of the women he surveyed who had had abortions said that they definitely would not have chosen abortion if they had been encouraged differently by the people who played a role in the abortion decision. David Reardon founded Women Exploited by Abortion in 1982 to minister to the needs of aborted women and to help them heal their pain. The survey was taken from WEBA chapters in 42 states to 252 previously aborted women and was the first to represent the national demographic characteristics of the "typical" aborting women. It was a fair, though not perfect, representation of aborting women in general, (p. 4, 7).

This is why it is not a "woman's issue." This information is equally important for the guys. It is a matter of life and death for a separate human being--not another part of a woman's body. Men experience stress and trauma long after the abortion also.

Since 1973 when abortion was legalized, we have been promised by the pro-abortion forces that there would be no more maimed women at the hands of "back alley abortionists." Since then, we have discovered that complications and deaths continue to occur, but little or nothing is being done to warn women. In Reardon's book, over 90% of women surveyed felt they did not have enough information to make an "informed choice," (p.16).

  • Part 1: Post-Abortion Syndrome
  • Part 2: The Tasks of Healing
  • Part 3: Resource List
  • Part 4: Procedural Risks & Complications
  • Back to Post-Abortion Problems main page