Why is After-Abortion Support Crucial for Women?
Despite studies asserting that women don’t suffer after abortion, it’s a gut-wrenching decision to make. Many suffer from post-abortion stress symptoms that affect them emotionally, spiritually, and physically afterward.
What Do Women Feel After Abortion?
When a woman has an abortion, her pregnancy hormone levels decline suddenly from a normal first-trimester high. This rapid hormonal drop can lead to post-partum depression symptoms, including mood swings, anxiety, and difficulty sleeping.
There isn’t a wrong or right way to feel after an abortion, and research reveals that a wide array of after-effects are common to a woman’s mental health, including:
- Relief immediately following the abortion
- Sadness
- Grief
- Feeling they don’t have the right to grieve since they chose the abortion
- Guilt
- A sense of loneliness and isolation
- Shame
- Regret
- Nightmares or sleep problems
- Eating disorders
- Anxiety and panic attacks
- Depression and suicidal thoughts
- Post-abortion stress
- Relationship difficulties
- Desire to replace the lost pregnancy by getting pregnant quickly
Not every woman experiences all of these emotions after an abortion, but we know that certain conditions contribute to the likelihood of increased emotional pain after an abortion.
What Contributes to Women’s Emotional and Physical Complications After Abortion?
How do you feel after an abortion physically? Many risk factors can contribute to the degree of difficulty a woman will experience after an abortion. If she is particularly young (under 20) or felt pressured or coerced into an abortion decision, she is more likely to suffer from increased emotional pain. If she feels the need for secrecy because her community will judge her, it will also make her recovery period more difficult.
Post-abortion complications, such as infection or pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) , can also negatively impact a woman’s recovery. Like many ailments, severe emotional pain increases the risk of physical illness after abortion.
Lack of support is a significant component of emotional and physical complications after abortion.
Why is After-Abortion Support Crucial for Women?
After-abortion support is crucial for women because it improves their emotional, spiritual, and physical recovery and reduces their risk of long-term pain from every aspect.
Although abortion is common and widely accepted in our culture, there is still a stigma attached. Women often hide the truth that they have had an abortion, amplifying their sense of shame and loneliness. The pain of abortion doesn’t just disappear and left unaddressed, it can lead to years or decades of unresolved trauma. Women need to feel safe and heard to begin the healing process.
By age 45, one out of every four women will have had an abortion. So chances are you know someone silently experiencing the pain of a past abortion, and it’s still impacting her. This is why Caring Network will continue to offer life-changing hope and healing through compassionate post-abortion support at no cost to women.
If you or someone you know is suffering from post-abortion stress and want to begin your journey to recovery, contact us at Care@RestoreAfterAbortion.com , or you can call or text 630-599-0043.
