Press Release
Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly
Abortion Healing
Cover Story, Original Broadcast Date: May 12, 2006 (Show #937):
While many women who undergo an abortion often feel remorse for the choice they have made, others suffer recrimination for a decision they believe was right. But does an abortion adversely affect a woman's psychological, emotional and spiritual health? And where can they turn for support? Mary Alice Williams looks at opposing viewpoints -- and approaches -- among religious-sponsored support groups in helping women deal with the emotional aftermath of an abortion. According to Theresa Karminski Burke with Rachel's Vineyard, a post-abortion support group, the trauma of abortion, which she calls "post-abortion syndrome," can cause addictions, disorders or depression: "Some people can ignore it. Some people can run from it. Some people can numb it through drugs and alcohol. But, on some level, just as a human being, we pay a price when we engage in destruction of life." But Reverend Rebecca Turner with the Missouri Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice denies that such a syndrome exists: "It's a name applied by those who are completely against abortion and want others to believe that all women suffer this extreme emotional trauma after an abortion . . . Certainly, there are women who experience stress related to an unplanned pregnancy and an abortion. It's normal to experience stress. But to say that there's a particular syndrome that women are always going to go through after they have an abortion is completely fictitious."
Featured (in alphabetical order):
Renee Bell
Dr. Theresa Karminski Burke, Psychologist and Creator, Rachel's Vineyard
Karin Searson
Rabbi Susan Talve, Central Reform Congregation, St. Louis, Missouri
Reverend Rebecca Turner, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
While many women who undergo an abortion often feel remorse for the choice they have made, others suffer recrimination for a decision they believe was right. But does an abortion adversely affect a woman's psychological, emotional and spiritual health? And where can they turn for support? Mary Alice Williams looks at opposing viewpoints -- and approaches -- among religious-sponsored support groups in helping women deal with the emotional aftermath of an abortion. According to Theresa Karminski Burke with Rachel's Vineyard, a post-abortion support group, the trauma of abortion, which she calls "post-abortion syndrome," can cause addictions, disorders or depression: "Some people can ignore it. Some people can run from it. Some people can numb it through drugs and alcohol. But, on some level, just as a human being, we pay a price when we engage in destruction of life." But Reverend Rebecca Turner with the Missouri Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice denies that such a syndrome exists: "It's a name applied by those who are completely against abortion and want others to believe that all women suffer this extreme emotional trauma after an abortion . . . Certainly, there are women who experience stress related to an unplanned pregnancy and an abortion. It's normal to experience stress. But to say that there's a particular syndrome that women are always going to go through after they have an abortion is completely fictitious."
Featured (in alphabetical order):
Renee Bell
Dr. Theresa Karminski Burke, Psychologist and Creator, Rachel's Vineyard
Karin Searson
Rabbi Susan Talve, Central Reform Congregation, St. Louis, Missouri
Reverend Rebecca Turner, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice