ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Culture challenge of the week: Mother’s Day after abortion
Mother’s Day is a wonderful celebration — a time when mothers are honored for their constant love and daily sacrifices, and when life itself is recognized and treasured as the gift that it is.
But for many women who have had abortions, Mother’s Day is one of the biggest triggers of painful memories and remorse over what “might have been.”
My heart breaks for these women.
Even though they accepted and believed the messages our society esteems — messages about a right to choose and the importance of “family planning” — these women have learned, through bitter experience, the truth that abortion is tragic.
Though they are free from the responsibility of raising a child, free from the embarrassment of pregnancy, free from financial burden and free to control their own lives, their broken hearts are imprisoned by a sense of loss, shame and regret.
The even sadder truth is that many Christians, the very people who should show the most compassion to these hurting women, pour judgment upon them instead. When Christians preach judgment rather than forgiveness, they hinder the healing process of those women and of the entire nation.
In honor of all those who desperately want to experience the joy of Mother’s Day but cannot undo the decisions of their past, I share this truth: Jesus Christ does not condemn you. He offers only healing.
How to save your family: Find forgiveness and spread the truth
King David recorded his own experience with regret in Psalm 32:
“When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time, that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment. For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory.”
In Psalm 34, he wrote: “I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; he saved me from all my troubles.”
The world offers us “control” of our lives, but the Lord offers us freedom from the need to control our lives. In him, we find forgiveness, healing and life to the fullest.
If you find yourself suffocating in regret, turn to Jesus.
Allow his forgiveness to pour over you so you can find the strength to forgive yourself. Know you are not alone in your pain and you don’t have to be alone in your healing.
There are so many resources, so many people who want to help you move your heart and soul in the right direction. One great resource is Project Rachel. Visit HopeAfterAbortion.com for more information.
If you are pro-life, and especially if you are a Christian, search your heart for any remnant of judgment or condemnation toward others and lay it at the foot of the cross. The compassion of Christ working through us is the only thing that can bring true healing to the hearts of others and true restoration to our country.
Abortion is our nation’s most destructive injustice. As it destroys the lives of the most innocent, it’s important to remember that it damages the physical, psychological and spiritual health of women (and men), making our country weaker on all fronts. Abortion’s effects are evils that must be healed by forgiveness and compassion.
Abortion itself is an evil that must be battled in our culture. Policies and laws will not change unless public opinion changes first. What our nation needs is for people to share the truth about the damage abortion causes.
If you have a story about how abortion has hurt you or your family, share it. Don’t hide the pain any longer. Let it be known.
One of the most powerful stories of the horrors associated with abortion is that of Dr. Kermit Gosnell. It isn’t your typical abortion story, but it is one of the most telling in what often happens inside the womb, just out of sight.
Gosnell was convicted of murdering babies he had just delivered at his abortion clinic. It is thought that in his 30 years of practice, he killed thousands of newborns — often by using scissors to snip their spinal cords as they struggled to live.
Gosnell is serving several life sentences for his crimes, but his story never attracted much media attention. What Gosnell’s trial revealed is the truth: Abortion is a gruesome act that kills innocent children and scars their mothers for life. That truth hits too close to home for Hollywood and the mainstream media that champion the “choice” that is abortion.
Thankfully, there are some brave souls willing to tell the hard stories that reveal the truth. A trio of documentarians — Phelim McAleer, Ann McElhinney and Magdalena Segieda — are in the final days of a crowdfunding campaign to make a film about Gosnell, the biggest serial killer in U.S. history. At GosnellMovie.com, you can help tell the story.
If they haven’t reached their fundraising goal by noon Monday, all the money already raised will be returned and the movie will not go into production.
You can give as little as $1 to help tell the story that the media refuse to.
Please help tell this story so that the babies who lost their lives will not be forgotten, so that America will face the ugly truth about abortion and begin its journey to a better place, and so that the lies about the “freedom” of abortion may one day cease to rob women of the joy that can be theirs every Mother’s Day.
• Rebecca Hagelin can be reached at rebecca@howtosaveyourfamily.com.
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