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The Dynamics of Abortion
Home>> Post-Abortion Articles>> Common Myths about People Who "Choose" Abortion

Common Myths about People Who "Choose" Abortion

1. Women who choose to abort do so out of selfishness and arrogance, proudly stomping into the local abortion clinic demanding their legal right to terminate their pregnancy.
The truth more often than not is to the contrary. As Frederica Mathewes-Green so eloquently put it, "No one wants an abortion as she wants an ice-cream cone or a Porsche. She wants an abortion as an animal, caught in a trap, wants to gnaw off its own leg." It's a brutal yet fitting description for an excruciating event in the lives of these women.
2. Only pro-abortion women have abortions.
The sad truth is that many pro-life Christian women have abortions. It's easy to stand on one's principles when one is not faced with the life-altering consequences of pregnancy. It's easy to say, "I would never have an abortion," - until faced with a pregnancy that for all intents and purposes creates a crisis situation in one's life.

The best attitude to adopt then is that of gratitude: There but by the grace of God go I. This attitude promotes the compassion of Christ and stifles the tendency to be judgmental.

3. People who choose abortion are taking the easy way out.
The truth is that there are many possible side effects that follow abortion. Some of the possibilities include:
  • Physical Consequences:
    • Infection
    • Infertility
    • Miscarriage in subsequent pregnancies
    • Breast cancer
    • Mutilation
    • Death
  • Emotional Consequences

    Post Abortion Syndrome: Post-Abortion Stress (PAS) is a form of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD). PTSD is the result of having suffered an event so stressful and so traumatic that the person is taken beyond his/her ability to cope in a normal manner. Victims of PTSD are unable to simply resume their lives where they left off before the traumatic event. Instead they experience a variety of reactions that do not go away merely with the passage of time. Although the symptoms of PTSD (and PAS) are varied, and although they may not surface for years after the trauma, they are nonetheless real and should be dealt with.

    The events leading up to and including the abortion itself are often of such a traumatic nature that PTSD is often the result. Few if any of those who choose abortion are prepared for its devastating effects.

  • Possible Symptoms of Post-Abortion Stress in Women:
    • Depression
    • Sad Mood
    • Sudden and Uncontrollable Crying
    • Deterioration of Self-Esteem
    • Disruption in Interpersonal Relationships
    • Sleep, Appetite, and Sexual Disturbances
    • Reduced Motivation
    • Thoughts of Suicide
    • "Anniversary Syndrome" (An increase of symptoms around the time of the anniversary of the abortion and/or the due date of the aborted child.)
    • Re-experiencing the Abortion
    • Preoccupation with Becoming Pregnant Again
    • Anxiety over Fertility and Childbearing Issues
    • Disruption of the Bonding Process with Present or Future Children
    • Survival Guilt: ...the decision boiled down to a sorrowful conclusion: "It's me or you, and I choose me"
    • Development of Eating Disorders
    • Alcohol and Drug Abuse
    • Inability to accept or offer forgiveness pertaining to the abortion
    • Other Self-Punishing or Self-Degrading Behaviors: abusive relationships, promiscuity, failing to take care of yourself medically or deliberately hurting yourself emotionally and/or physically
    • Brief Reactive Psychosis: an episode of drastically distorted reality within two weeks of the abortion
  • Possible Symptoms of Post-Abortion Stress in Men:
    • Intense anger
    • Depression
    • Low self-esteem
    • Mistrust of women (if she got pregnant in order to "trap" him, or if she had the abortion without his consent)
    • Difficulty in establishing and maintaining close relationships with others
    • May be overcome with guilt, shame, remorse
    • May abuse drugs, alcohol, food to numb the pain
    • May feel estranged from God; unforgivable
  • Spiritual Consequences:
    • Sin-any sin-hinders our fellowship with our Heavenly Father.
      1. "You rebuke and discipline men for their sin..." Psalm 39:11
      2. "If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened..." Psalm 66:18
      3. "Many times He delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin." Psalm 106:43
4. The way to stop abortion is to make it illegal again.
The most effective deterrent to abortion is the changing of hearts, which is accomplished only by Jesus Christ, and perpetuated by the changed lives of those He has healed from PAS. The illegalization of abortion would probably decrease the number of abortions, but the battle would inevitably heat up between the pro-life and pro-abortion camps. Likewise illegal abortions would continue to take place increasing the risk of mutilations and deaths of the women seeking them.

Common Myths about Abortion in General:

1. Having an abortion is as safe as going to the dentist. Possible physical consequences include but are not limited to:
  • Infection
  • Infertility (damage to the uterus resulting in infertility; inability to carry subsequent pregnancies to term after multiple abortions)
  • Miscarriage in subsequent pregnancies
  • Breast cancer
  • Mutilation (Perforation of the bowel)
  • Death (due to excessive bleeding/hemorrhage)
2. Abortion solves the problem of an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy.
Considering the possible and often probable consequences listed above, the natural and logical conclusion would then be that instead of solving the problem, abortion merely heaps pain upon pain, making a difficult situation infinitely worse.
3. Abortion solves the problem of rape.
Considering the possible and often probable consequences listed above, the natural and logical conclusion would then be that instead of solving the problem, abortion merely heaps pain upon pain, making a difficult situation infinitely worse.

On the contrary, the alternative (having the baby) becomes a testimony to the love and grace of Jesus Christ and His ability to redeem even this situation.

4. Abortion solves the problem of incest.
Abortion actually perpetuates incest by protecting the perpetrator and keeping the secret. (The power is in the secret.) And, considering the possible and often probable consequences listed above, the natural and logical conclusion would then be that instead of solving the problem, abortion merely heaps pain upon pain, making a difficult situation infinitely worse.
5. Abortion only affects the mother of the baby.
Others who are affected, often deeply are:
  • The father of the baby
  • The parents of the mother and father
  • The siblings of the aborted child (whether they ever learn of the abortion or not)
  • The friends of the mother and father
  • The abortion clinic personnel, including the office and medical staff
6. The unwanted baby is better off dead.
This line of thinking is a coping mechanism that enables the woman to live with her decision to end the life of her unborn child. The fact is that because it is God who creates life, it is also God who should determine the time of each person's physical death.

Further, because of the high incidence of infertility, there are always couples waiting to adopt newborns. So in effect, the truth is that no child is unwanted.

7. Abortion decreases the incidences of child abuse.
Statistics show that occurrence of child abuse has actually risen exponentially since abortion became legal in 1970. Because of the mental and emotional pain suffered by the woman, even while in the throes of denial, there is an increased tendency toward neglecting and abusing existing or subsequent children.