And I am angry. I am angry at billie jean
king and gloria steinem and every woman
who ever had an abortion and didn't tell
me about this kind of pain. There is a
conspiracy among the sisterhood not to
tell each other about guilt and
self-hatred and terror. Having an
abortion is not like having a wart removed
or your nails done or your hair cut, and
anyone who tells you it is a liar or
worse.
"an apology to a little boy
I won't ever see."[1]
anti-life philosophy.
[post-abortion syndrome is a] largely
non-existent phenomenon [circulated by]
anti-family planning extremists ...
Emotional responses to legally induced
abortions are largely positive.
Planned parenthood.[2]
the decision to have an abortion is made
only after a great deal of serious
thought, and is never made lightly. It is
a tragic choice, but a necessary choice.
It must remain available for women with no
other option.
We have been hearing a lot lately about
the so-called post-abortion syndrome
(pas). This is a myth designed by weba,
victims of choice, and similar anti-choice
propaganda fronts. These fanatics cannot
make abortion illegal, so they try to make
women feel guilty about exercising their
fundamental constitutional right to choose
abortion.
Contrary to what these groups allege,
abortion is a great stress reliever, and
gives peace of mind to a woman by
relieving her of an unwanted pregnancy.
Post-abortion syndrome simply does not
exist, and this is why post-abortion
counseling is completely unnecessary.
A serious decision?
Whatever the differences in conscious or
unconscious motivations for abortion, the
experience of abortion inevitably arouses
an unconscious sense of guilt.
Flaunders dunbar, m.D., m.Sc.D., ph.D.,
director of psychosomatic research,
columbia presbyterian medical center.[3]
for some women, perhaps ...
It is certainly true that many women
arrive at the decision to abort only after
an intense period of soul-searching and
reflection. And many other women are
simply not allowed to reflect or even to
have a truly free choice: they are
indirectly or even directly pressured into
abortion by husbands or boyfriends, or,
even more despicably, by parents who want
to preserve their family's 'good name' by
shedding the blood of their own
grandchildren.
However, not every woman aborts after
careful consideration of all the options.
Every sidewalk counselor has encountered
many women who are totally cold towards
their preborn babies and literally could
not care less about them. Every sidewalk
counselor has been cursed at, ridiculed,
and told by these women words to the
effect of "yes, I use abortion for birth
control. This is my fourth. So what? I
couldn't care less. It's my choice, it's
legal, and you can f_ck off!"
according to neofeminist abortion clinic
operators, some women were already having
their third legal abortion within nine
months of the procedure being legalized in
new york state.[4] and state abortion
statistics consistently show that many
women having their fifth and sixth
abortions are no more likely to use
contraception than when they had their
first abortion.[5]
the 'gifts' of abortion.
Some neofeminists even advocate using
abortion as a fertility 'self-check.' in
other words, they urge women to get
pregnant for the sole purpose of insuring
that their reproductive systems are
functioning properly. Once this is
ascertained, of course, their babies must
be consigned to the garbage can.
This "fertility self-check" is one of the
"many gifts of abortion" described by
author rebecca altafut.[6] she also says
that another of the alleged "gifts" of
abortion is that women don't have to be
bothered with the inconvenience of birth
control. Talk about aggressive
rationalization!
Even abortionists can be disgusted.
This totally callous and selfish attitude
has been extensively documented and has
even distressed many hardened abortionists
over the years. Women who couldn't care
less about their preborn babies have been
using abortion for birth control even when
contraception was easily available to
them.
Therefore, pro-life activists should not
fall for the propaganda that it is an
"agonizing decision" for every woman.
Some sample quotes from pro-aborts who
believe that abortion is trivial in
nature, and from those abortionists who
are disgusted by this cavalier attitude,
are listed below.
How come they [right-to-lifers] don't get
upset over a little kid having its tonsils
out? That's worse than having an abortion
any day!
"abortion eve," 1973 anti-catholic comic
book by chin lyvely and joyce sutton,
promoted by planned parenthood, page 20.
'women don't do this [abortion] lightly.'
i'm sick and tired of hearing this. 98
percent of the women do do it lightly in
here, but I never say that. And they do
it lightly. They think of abortion like
brushing their dime teeth, and that's ok
with me.
Marilyn buckham, director, buffalo gyn
womenservices clinic, quoted in the
revolutionary worker (revolutionary
communist party newspaper), march 6,
1989.
I do dislike a certain type of modern
young woman who indulges promiscuously,
uses contraceptives rather reluctantly,
preferring repeat abortions, which she
regards as lightly as tossing down a
cocktail or a glass of whiskey.
British abortionist william robinson,
quoted in the critic and guide, 1921, page
24.
Abortion is so routine that one expects it
to be like a manicure: quick, cheap, and
painless.
Sallie tisdale, abortion clinic nurse,
october 1987 harpers magazine article
entitled "we do abortions here."
on abortion and childbirth.
As described in chapter 59, "maternal
deaths due to abortion," most
pro-abortionists wrongly insist that
childbirth is anywhere from five to one
hundred times more dangerous than their
treasured "safe and legal" abortion.
They make such comparisons when discussing
the risks of pregnancy and childbirth to
maternal physical health. Since the
pro-aborts do not even acknowledge the
existence of post-abortion syndrome, they
make no comparisons between the
psychological trauma associated with
abortion and childbirth, other than in
extremely general terms.
So how do abortion and childbirth compare
in terms of causing psychological
stress?
Psychiatrists j. Lawrence jamieson and
martin h. Stein of the dominion hospital
and sleepy hollow psychiatric center,
falls church, virginia, recently conducted
a study of the most traumatic events in
the lives of hundreds of women. Each of
these women rated a comprehensive list of
fifty stressful life events on a scale of
one to one hundred, with forcible rape (as
the most stressful event) given the
maximum value of one hundred points. All
other events were keyed to this maximum
scale, and the numbers shown below
indicate the perceived relative intensity
of selected stressful situations to the
study group.
The most stressful events in women's
lives
[a medium text size on your computer's
'view' setting is recommended, otherwise,
the tables may be discombobulated.]
ranking of life event points
#1. Rape
100
#2. Parent's suicide
99
#3. Parent's death
95
#4. Parent's divorce
90
#5. Past or present sexual abuse
85
.
.
#9. Abortion
77
#18. Pregnancy
60
#20. Child seeing single parent
fornicating 53
#22. Breakup with steady boyfriend
51
#27. Fear of nuclear war
45
#33. First sexual encounter
38
#40. College rejection
28
#43. Fear of aids
20
reference: j. Lawrence jamieson, ph.D.,
and martin h. Stein, m.D. Of dominion
hospital and sleepy hollow psychiatric
center, falls church, virginia. "the
holmes personal stress scale." this study
is described in the oregonian, december
28, 1986.
It is interesting to note that this large
group of women rated "pregnancy" much
lower than "abortion" as a stressful life
event. Significantly, this study also
revealed that ending a pregnancy with
abortion more than doubles the stress that
a woman must endure from the pregnancy
itself.
Other surveys and studies have confirmed
that abortion consistently ranks at or
near the top of the scale as a life event
that causes extremely high levels of
emotional distress. A 1992 gallup poll
showed that, of all of the events or
situations that would make a person feel
"bad about himself," 67% of the women
questioned and 55% of the men questioned
in the age group 18 to 29 years old stated
that having an abortion tops the list.
Note that women in this age group are more
likely than those in any other age group
to have abortions.[7]
what about the rest? The impacts of
pas.
Nobody must find out or they will do that
to me again, strap me to the death
machine, emptiness machine, legs in the
metal framework, secret knives. This time
I won't let them.
Margaret atwood.[8]
introduction.
Pas is now a recognized psychological
trauma, similar in cause, scope and effect
to the delayed shock syndrome (dss)
experienced by many vietnam veterans.
Just as many vietnam vets do not suffer
from dss, many aborted women do not suffer
from pas. In particular, those women
whose only problem with abortion is the
cost seem to experience little or no
remorse over their decisions. Their
consciences have been effectively killed,
usually by an amoral, utilitarian
lifestyle practiced long before they
killed their preborn babies.
This utilitarian worldview is epitomized
by women like writer barbara ehrenreich,
who claims that "quite apart from blowing
up clinics and terrorizing patients, the
anti-abortion movement can take credit for
a more subtle and lasting kind of damage:
it has succeeded in getting even
pro-choice people to think of abortion as
a "moral dilemma," an "agonizing
decision," and related code phrases for
something murky and compromising, like the
traffic in infant formula mix. In liberal
circles, it has become unstylish to
discuss abortion without using words like
"complex," "painful," and the rest of the
mealy-mouthed vocabulary of evasion.
Regrets are also fashionable, and one
otherwise feminist author writes recently
of mourning, each year following her
birthday, the putative birthday of her
discarded fetus. I cannot speak of other
women, of course, but the one regret I
have about my own abortions is that they
cost money that might otherwise have been
spent on something more pleasurable, like
taking the kids to movies and theme parks
..."[9]
but a long series of studies show that
women with this callous attitude are in
the minority. Most women do suffer from
pas especially those women who feel
compelled to abort due to very serious
reasons, i.E., grave health dangers, rape,
incest, or severe fetal deformity. The
fact that women who abort for the "hard
cases" usually suffer severe pas
contradicts the several pro-abortion "hard
cases" arguments for abortion. Therefore,
those women who face difficult
circumstances are, from a psychological
point of view, precisely those who should
not abort!
Diagnostic criteria.
Figure 45-1 lists the diagnostic criteria
for post-traumatic stress disorder
established by the american psychiatric
association, adapted by Dr. Vincent rue
for post-abortion syndrome. Pas meets
every one of the criteria listed in this
figure for post-traumatic stress
disorder.
Figure 45-1
american psychiatric association
diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic
stress disorder, adapted for post-abortion
syndrome
stressor: the intentional destruction of
one's unborn child is sufficiently
traumatic and beyond the range of usual
human experience so as to cause
significant symptoms of re-experience,
avoidance, and impacted grieving.
Re-experience: the abortion is
re-experienced in the following ways:
1. Recurrent and intrusive distressing
recollections of the abortion;
2. Recurrent distressing dreams of the
abortion or of the unborn child (e.G.,
dreams or fantasies about newborn babies
or fetuses);
3. Sudden acting or feeling as if the
abortion were recurring (including
reliving the experience, illusions,
hallucinations, and dissociative
(flashback) episodes including upon
awakening or when intoxicated);
4. Intense psychological distress at
exposure to events that symbolize or
resemble the abortion experience (e.G.,
clinics, pregnant mothers, subsequent
pregnancies);
5. Anniversary reactions of intense
grieving and/or depression on subsequent
anniversary dates of the abortion or on
the projected due date of the aborted
child.
Avoidance: persistent avoidance of stimuli
associated with the abortion trauma or
numbing of responsiveness (not present
before the abortion), as indicated by at
least three of the following:
1. Efforts to avoid/deny thoughts or
feelings associated with abortion;
2. Efforts to avoid activities,
situations, or information that might
arouse memories of the abortion;
3. Inability to recall the abortion
experience or an important aspect of the
abortion (psychogenic amnesia);
4. Markedly diminished interest in
significant activities;
5. Feeling of detachment of estrangement
from others;
6. Withdrawal in relationships and/or
reduced communication;
7. Restricted range of affection, e.G.,
unable to have loving feelings;
8. Sense of foreshortened future, e.G.,
does not expect to have a career,
marriage, children, or a long life.
Associated features: persistent symptoms
(not present before abortion), as
indicated by at least two of the
following:
1. Difficulty falling asleep or staying
asleep;
2. Irritability or outbursts of anger;
3. Difficulty concentrating;
4. Hypervigilance;
5. Exaggerated startle response to
intrusive recollections or reexperiencing
of the abortion trauma;
6. Physiologic reactivity upon exposure
to events or situations that symbolize or
resemble an aspect of the abortion (e.G.,
breaking out in a profuse sweat upon a
pelvic examination, or hearing vacuum pump
sounds);
7. Depression and suicide ideation;
8. Guilt about surviving when one's
unborn child did not;
9. Self-devaluation and/or an inability
to forgive one's self;
10. Secondary substance abuse.
Course: duration of the disturbance
(symptoms described above) of more than
one month's duration, or onset may be
delayed (greater than six months after the
abortion).
Reference: vincent rue, ph.D.
Specifications for post-abortion syndrome
adapted from diagnostic criteria under the
heading "post-traumatic stress disorder,"
american psychiatric association,
diagnostic and statistical manual of
mental disorders (revised), dsm iii-r:
criteria 309.89. American psychiatric
press, 1400 k street nw, washington, dc
20005. 1987, pages 247 to 251.
Symptoms of pas.
Pas had not been categorized and
documented until recent years, because
typical early studies had been conducted
during the denial phase immediately
following abortions (anywhere from a day
to a month after the act, when most women
may indeed feel relief).
However, physicians recognized the
lingering signs of post-abortion syndrome
as early as 1870, and this was one reason
that the ama continued to vigorously
oppose abortion as late as the mid-1950s.
In the late 19th century, one doctor noted
the pervasive and lingering psychological
impacts of abortion as he wrote that "we
cannot recall to mind an individual
[woman] who has been guilty of this
[abortion] crime (for it must be called a
crime under every aspect), who has not
suffered for many years afterward in
consequence. And when health is finally
restored, the freshness of life had gone,
the vigor of mind and energy of body have
forever departed."[10]
the relief that many women feel
immediately after their abortions is
definitely temporary.
A fairly typical sequence of emotions and
feelings was described in mademoiselle
magazine several years ago; "at first,
physical sensations overpowered her
emotions; soon, however, her emotions came
up. Even today, nearly two years later,
she says she still thinks about what
happened. A lot. She knows she did the
right thing. But now, as she did that day
riding home with her lover, she feels an
ache that is not physical but emotional,
as if there were some part of the process
left undone."[11]
if this is the reaction of a woman who
believes that abortion was the right
decision for her, imagine the
psychological impact on a woman who was
forced into abortion; lied to by clinic
personnel about fetal development; or who
converts to a pro-life position later!
The above quote might have been written
about the woman described in the scripture
passage in jeremiah 21:17. This passage,
which prophesies the massacre of the holy
innocent, is also an apt description of
the woman bereaved by abortion. These
women often have the clinging feeling that
they are 'forever pregnant,' even years
after the loss of their preborns.
Despite intense pressure from planned
parenthood and other abortion pushers who
did not want her findings published, Dr.
Anne catherine speckhard of the university
of minnesota revealed the results of a
study on the psychological effects of
abortion upon women that occur after the
initial emotions have subsided. These
results are shown below.[12]
common psychological impacts of abortion
upon women
percent of
psychological effect
women affected
preoccupation with the death
of the unborn child
81%
unwanted flashbacks of the abortion
73%
feelings of 'craziness'
after the abortion
69%
nightmares related to the abortion
54%
received visitations from the
aborted child
35%
uncontrollable hallucinations
related to the abortion
23%
reference: anne speckhard. Psycho-social
stress following abortion. Kansas city,
missouri: sheed and ward, 1987.
Dr. Speckhard found that, although 72
percent of the aborted women in this study
reported no religious beliefs at the time
of their abortion, a full 96 percent now
believe that their abortions were acts of
homicide.[12]
the experts speak.
Introduction.
When confronted with evidence regarding
pas, pro-abortionists will invariably
point out that there is no "consensus of
opinion" regarding even the existence of
post-abortion syndrome.
This is certainly true, of course. Some
cigarette manufacturers also claim that
there is no "consensus of opinion"
regarding whether or not smoking is
healthful.
Generally, those who profit from abortion
or who are pro-abortion idealogues deny
the existence of pas. Experienced and
impartial field workers, however, have
seen the evidence with their own eyes.
This section contains quotes from eminent
psychiatrists, a suicide worker, and
abortionists regarding their experiences
with women who suffer from pas.
The psychiatrist's experiences.
It is interesting to note that eminent
psychiatrists, before their profession got
entangled with the abortion business,
accurately and honestly assessed the
various aspects of the psychological
impacts that abortion can have on women.
The problem of post-abortion psychiatric
trauma was so prevalent that hundreds of
psychiatrists held conventions to address
and analyze the problem.
One of these conferences was convened by
the conference of the national committee
on maternal health on june 19 and 20,
1942, and was entitled "the abortion
problem." many of the psychiatrists who
attended this gathering outlined some of
the more common aspects of
abortion-related psychiatric sequelae.
Theodore lidz, m.D., professor of
psychiatry at the yale university school
of medicine, stressed that the trauma
caused by an abortion may last for the
rest of a woman's life unless she comes to
grips with the guilt it causes; "at times
the guilt over the abortion draws into its
dragnet many old guilts, leading to severe
depression. In other instances, the
overwhelming guilt cannot be managed and
leads to pathologic projection. The
immediate assimilation of the trauma is no
assurance of successful integration: in
later years new guilts may reawaken the
dormant and one sees women at the
menopause suffering torment over an
abortion performed many years before."[3]
david c. Wilson, m.D., chairman,
department of neurology and psychiatry,
university of virginia, concurred with Dr.
Lidz' theory; "the reaction of guilt and
depression is out of proportion to the
woman's apparent attitude and may
frequently occur months afterward,
although she denies any feelings of guilt
or concern."[3]
more than 80 percent of all relationships
break up within three months after a woman
has an abortion. Although men probably
instigate the majority of these breakups,
Dr. Harold rosen outlined how women may
be compelled to reject their "partners" in
some way as a direct cause of abortions;
"some women, married or unmarried alike,
may reject even the very thought of
motherhood. Nevertheless, if they do
conceive and manage to have their
pregnancies interrupted, they may at some
future date repeat the pattern. This
later urge to motherhood seems greater and
more powerful than their previous
rejection of the unborn child. Or, if
they cannot again become pregnant, they
may grow furious at their 'sacrifice' and
turn their anger and rage, on the one
hand, against themselves by developing a
suicidal depression or, on the other,
against their sexual partners by becoming
frigid and punishing them either by
developing severely neurotic or psychotic
symptoms or by leaving or divorcing
them."[3]
although there are many common
characteristics of the depressions that
women suffer after abortions and after
miscarriages, there is one decisive
difference: in the former case, women take
an active role in planning the demise of
their preborn children. May e. Romm,
m.D., institute of psychoanalytic medicine
of southern california, recognized this
difference; "she [any woman] may later
equate the abortion with homicide and
react to the guilt entailed in it with a
reactive depression or, in extreme cases,
with a psychosis. Early inculcated
concepts, whether religious or ethical,
which are consciously submerged, may
assert themselves with intense impact
after the deed has been accomplished.
There is a cardinal difference between the
emotional reaction of sadness and regret
accompanying a spontaneous miscarriage,
and an abortion which was deliberately
performed. Reassurance by the physician
that it was indicated does not, at all
times, neutralize the guilt following the
operation. The patient is consciously or
unconsciously aware that she participated
in the decision."[3]
at the 1955 conference on induced abortion
held by planned parenthood, Dr. Iago
gladston summed up the damage that can be
caused by abortion when he said at his
talk that "if and when a so-called adult
woman, a responsible female, seeks an
abortion, unless the warrant for it is
overwhelming as say in the case of rape or
incest we are in effect confronted both
with a sick person and a sick situation.
Furthermore, and I want strongly to
underscore this point, neither the given
person nor the given situation is likely
to be remedied by the abortion, qua
abortion. It is of course true that both
the person and the situation may be
relieved and somewhat ameliorated by the
abortion,just as an individual suffering
from a gangrenous foot may be relieved by
the amputation of the affected member, but
I would like to go on record that in
numerous instances both the individual and
the situation are actually aggravated
rather than remedied by the abortion. Bad
as the situation was initially it not
infrequently becomes worse after the
abortion has taken place."[13]
a suicide expert speaks.
M. Uchtman, ohio director of suiciders
anonymous, painted a pitiful picture of
what has happened to many aborted women
who have come to her for help in her
september 1, 1981 report to the cincinnati
city council;
after years of listening to their
[would-be suicide] stories, we know there
are thousands more out there being brave.
By holding a tight reign on their
emotions, they tuck all that unexpressed
emotion and unshared experience deep down
inside themselves, where it keeps growing,
like a pressured tumor of pain.
Of all the emotions they experienced
during the abortion crisis, none brings
more pain and distress than the one they
now know and identify five to ten times
more than any other feelings. These women
always tell us the same thing. 'oh, my
god, I am evil. I have to be evil to have
done this thing. I feel so alone, so
forsaken.'
panic and distress grips them after an
abortion, because the feelings are allowed
to remain shadowy, ominous, ghost-like.
They are shapes dancing around the edges
of their consciousness. They commonly
postpone the moment of truth as long as
possible. But when the subconscious
throws it forward, they go through mental
hell! Even at age 87, the critical moment
comes when the chilling reality overwhelms
them and cold reality numbs their spirit
and casts them into those dark 'pits' of
despair and pain!
They fantasize that the 'cancer' will
disappear. But it cannot! So feelings
cannot be denied and repressed without
doing violence to every other area of
their living. And to all of those they
touch!
Here are the two questions they always ask
us: "will this pain never die?" and "how
many years does it take to get over this
pain?"
margaret wold writes: "this pain remains
as a counterpoint to the rest of their
lives, even though time mutes its
sharpness."
many women purposely keep the pain alive
by never forgiving the spouse or mate
after the decision. He rejects her,
leaving her to live in the pits alone, in
the depths and in deep depression!
They become more and more depersonalized,
superficial, and artificial. Suicide is
now more desirable for them than a
lifetime of false pretense and
hopelessness.
The abortionists speak.
Certainly nobody is more qualified to
speak on the psychological aspects of
abortion that a veteran abortionist who is
also a practicing psychiatrist.
Probably only one person in this country
fits this description washington
abortionist julius fogel, who has killed
more than 20,000 babies. According to
him, "i've had patients who had abortions
a year or two ago women who did the best
thing at the time for themselves but it
still bothers them. Many come in some are
just mute, some hostile. Some burst out
crying ... There is no question in my
mind that we are disturbing a life
process. The trauma may sink into the
unconscious and never surface in the
woman's lifetime ... But a psychological
price is paid. It may be alienation, it
may be a pushing away from human warmth,
perhaps a hardening of the maternal
instinct. Something happens on the deeper
levels of a woman's consciousness when she
destroys a pregnancy. I know that as a
psychiatrist."[14]
another veteran abortionist has found
that, for women who decide not to abort,
the opposite reaction is prevalent. Aleck
bourne, who confesses to having committed
over 5,000 abortions, said that "i have
never known a woman who, when her baby was
born, was not overjoyed I had not killed
it."[15]
curiously, some pro-abortion experts see a
pattern of repeated abortions as a symptom
of mental illness. This is very
significant, in light of the fact that 40
percent of all women who obtain abortions
are repeaters.[16]
not surprisingly, planned parenthood
(which owns and operates the largest chain
of abortion mills in the country) exhibits
a profound degree of schizophrenia when
addressing this topic. On the one hand,
they loudly and persistently claim that
women suffer few or no psychological
impacts as a result of their abortions
indeed, the organization states with a
straight face that abortion is conducive
to good mental health! On the other hand,
one of pp's publications says that "people
who work in abortion clinics have come to
believe that any woman who has repeated
abortions shows indications of being
chronically mentally ill, inasmuch as she
does not or cannot take control of her
life."[17]
what about the fathers?
The current situation.
The current controlling decision regarding
father's rights and abortion is the united
states supreme court's planned parenthood
of central missouri v. Danforth decision
of july 7, 1976.
Among other findings, the court held that
any requirement that a husband even be
informed about his wife's abortion is
unconstitutional.
This decision stripped fathers of any
legal right whatever to protect their own
preborn children. The father therefore
has less of a right to protect his own
child than abortion referral agents have
to arrange its death, the abortionists to
kill it, or the state to declare his
slightest opposition unconstitutional and
punishable. His relationship to his own
child is deemed much less important than
his relationship to a piece of property
say a car or a microwave oven.
At least he has a legal right to defend
his car or his microwave.
In his scathing dissent, justice byron
white stated that "it is truly surprising
that the majority finds in the united
states constitution, as it must in order
to justify the result it reaches, a rule
that the state must assign a greater value
to a mother's decision to cut off a
potential human life by abortion than to a
father's decision to let it mature into a
live child."
according to a national poll, more than
half of all fathers including married men
are not even told that their child has
been aborted.[18] in one case, a father
desperate to save his child filed suit to
stop an abortion, and found that the only
reason his wife wanted to kill their child
was so that she would look good in a
bikini when they went on summer
vacation![19]
his wife had her abortion.
When challenged about the trivial
justification for such abortions,
pro-aborts will either duck the question
entirely or slavishly insist that a
woman's self-image is much more important
than the life of her child or the right of
the father to love his child.
This attitude, while bizarre in the
extreme, is nevertheless understandable.
After all, neofeminists must have complete
control. Control is their religion. They
covet it. They need it. Yet they see no
inconsistency in not allowing the father
of a preborn baby to even voice his
opinion on whether or not his child may
live. While they squawk loudly about
'oppressive' males, they work for laws
that give them oppressive veto powers over
a father's most basic right the right to
protect his own children.
Public opinion polls on father's rights.
Pro-abortionists love to quote
heavily-doctored public opinion polls that
'show' that 75 percent (80 percent, 88
percent, pick a number that sounds good)
of all american adults think that abortion
should remain legal. They bring up these
polls in order to paint pro-lifers as a
tiny (but always 'vocal') minority who
should be ignored by the public. They
also point to the polls to shore up their
assertion that the 'majority' should rule
and abortion should remain legal.
Naturally, pro-aborts ignore public
opinion polls that go against their
positions. Pro-aborts always talk about
public opinion polls except when they do
not support the pro-abortion position.
Then, suddenly, we are talking about
"basic rights that everyone should have."
the most well-documented and well-known
national poll on abortion attitudes was
performed by the boston globe and wbz-tv
on march 27-29, 1989. Two questions
addressed spousal rights regarding
abortion;
results of poll questions on spousal
rights
question: "in this case, do you think it
should be legal or illegal for a woman to
obtain an abortion?"
illegal
legal
"mother wants abortion
but father wants baby."
72%
14%
"father wants abortion
but mother wants baby."
75% 11%
this extensive poll clearly shows that
three-quarters of the american public
wants each spouse to have essentially a
"veto power" over the abortion decision.
Yet pro-abortionists still insist that the
pro-life view is a "minority position"
that should be ignored by the general
public. As always with selfish
pro-aborts, their own rights are
paramount, and the rights of everyone else
take a distant second place.
For information on how pro-abortionists
conduct phony public opinion polls and
doctor other polls to reflect their own
viewpoints, see chapter 76, "public
opinion polls on abortion."
the impacts on the fathers.
The impacts of abortion on the fathers of
the preborn babies who go to their 'little
deaths' are largely ignored by hard-line
pro-abortionists and the medical
profession. After all, if the preborn
baby is just 'unwanted biological tissue,'
and if abortion has 'no adverse
psychological impacts on women,' as the
pro-aborts claim, there must certainly be
no reason for men to suffer any ill
effects from abortion.
This attitude is obviously contrary to
common sense. University of maryland
psychologist arnold medvene has correctly
concluded that "abortion is one of the
major death experiences that men go
through. It resurrects very important,
very primitive issues, memories, and
feelings."[20]
it is just plain stupid to summarily
presume that men do not bond with their
own flesh and blood, even if such flesh
and blood is as yet unseen. Men who are
commanded not to interfere while their own
preborn children are slaughtered (almost
always for pure convenience) must suppress
their feelings of helplessness and outrage
at the injustice of the 'system.' they are
then expected to accept their aborting
'partner' as if nothing at all happened.
They are many times even expected to pay
for the abortion of the child that they
often wanted so desperately.
Since a father has no rights whatever in
the pregnancy, he may remain aloof from
the mother because his child might be
killed at any time, based purely upon her
whim. Even when the mother and father
make a joint decision to have a child, he
can never be sure that she will not change
her mind. Therefore, in order to lessen
the pain of a possible loss, he remains
aloof and unresponsive to the mother's
pregnancy. This will cause tension
between the mother and the father whether
or not the pregnancy continues, and his
aloofness may continue after birth or
after abortion.
Studies have shown that more than eighty
percent of the relationships that aborted
women are involved in break up within two
months after their abortions. In light of
the powerful psychological forces working
on both the father and the mother of the
aborted baby, this is not at all
surprising.
Yet more inconsistency.
The general attitude of pro-aborts towards
men and abortion is yet another example of
the ingrained inconsistency and hypocrisy
of the pro-death position. Neofeminists
tell us that men should "get in touch with
their feelings" and must "tap into the
female aspects of their personalities."
they also say that "men must become more
involved with their children."
meanwhile, they also tell us that a man is
not allowed to even attempt to influence
the mother of his child when she is
considering aborting his preborn baby.
His input is flatly labeled "unwarranted
pressure."
the reaction of louise tyrer,
vice-president of medical affairs at
planned parenthood, is typical of the
utter callousness that pro-abortionists
show towards any rights other than their
own; "but it doesn't matter how much men
scream and holler that they are being left
out [of the abortion decision]. There are
some things that they are never going to
be able to experience fully. I say,
'tough luck.'"[21]
and what about the siblings?
Kids discerning parent's attitudes.
Another largely-ignored group of people
affected deeply by abortion is the vast
pool of surviving siblings of aborted
children.
Many children do not know their parents'
stance on abortion. But many do.
Children are remarkably perceptive and
usually piece together their parents'
positions on social issues through months
and years of observation, even if the
issues are not mentioned by name.
Many kids have parents who are active
pro-abortionists or who are 'dilettantes'
who occasionally contribute money to
pro-abort groups or attend an annual
pro-abortion event. Since the issue is
constantly in the public eye, many kids
hear about abortion and then ask their
parents if they support 'reproductive
rights' and receive an affirmative
response of some kind.
Kids think a lot about their relationship
with their parents. What messages are
transmitted to the child(ren) of parents
who they know are 'pro-choice?' what
questions may arise in their minds?
The following questions and fears
typically arise in the minds of kids who
know that their parents have aborted one
or more of their siblings;
• "how come you didn't abort me?
What if I hadn't come at a 'good time?'
what if I had been less than perfect? Why
did you abort my sister or brother?"
• "sometimes you tell me that i'm
more trouble than i'm worth. Does this
mean that you can still abort me or give
me to someone else?"
• "do I have worth all of my own?
If I do, why would it be possible to abort
me before I was born? Why do I have worth
now but not then? After all, I was the
same person!"
what message does a child receive from the
knowledge that his parents are
'pro-choice?' what messages do kids get
when they see a news program about a
pro-abortion march that features a view of
a small child with a sign around her neck
proclaiming that "i'm a choice, not a
child?" what does a child think when he
sees or hears one of the most popular
pro-abortion slogans, "every child a
wanted child?"
kids are not stupid. They have an innate
common sense that has not yet been
corrupted by the world. They know that
the 'pro-choice' message means that they
have no intrinsic worth of their own; all
of their worth was assigned to them by
another person. They were not even deemed
to be human beings unless their mother
willed it. If their parents now show
disapproval of them, it means that, at
least for a little while, they are
"unwanted" and therefore less worthy than
"wanted" children.
Kids as things.
A recent national survey of aborting women
performed by the alan guttmacher institute
found that 68 percent of all these women
gave as a reason for aborting "i can't
afford a baby right now."
what this statement means most of the time
is this: "if I have this child, I won't be
able to afford the things that I want."
these things might include a vacation, a
new car, redecorating, or a new
wardrobe.
On a larger scale, a prominent
psychologist has found that many more
people are looking upon even their born
children as just more "things" to have, as
opposed to a new car or vacation or
addition to the house. In other words,
children are being evaluated in purely
economic terms or in terms of how good
they make the parents feel.[22] this is at
least a partial and direct result of the
attitude our society has towards preborn
children.
The result of this pervasive attitude is
that children are generally losing their
intrinsic value and are being reduced to
the level of possessions in general. This
massive devaluation by society cannot help
but lead to self-devaluation in children,
especially those children of so-called
"pro-choice" parents.
The problems of the survivors.
The psychiatric problems suffered by
children who discover that their mother
has had an abortion, either before they
were born or after, include death phobias,
impulses to run away from home, separation
anxiety, outbursts of fear or hatred of
the mother, anxiety attacks, recurrent and
severe nightmares, stuttering, and even
suicide attempts.[23]
small children are remarkably aware of
their mother's subsequent pregnancies and
of their ultimate dispositions.
Additionally, women who have abortions are
more likely to have difficulties with
their families than those women who do not
abort. Therefore, they may be exposed to
'family mental health' programs that now
urge them to tell their children when they
have miscarriages or abortions.
Although many children may be jealous when
they know that their mother is pregnant,
this certainly does not mean that they
wish death upon their preborn siblings.
In fact, the opposite is true: they may
feel grave guilt or may suffer from a
cluster of other syndromes, some of which
are listed below.
• the "haunted child:" the child
knows that the mother was pregnant, but
now is not. The child's mistrust of the
parents is engendered by their
unwillingness to tell him of the facts
surrounding the sibling that is now gone,
but he is terrified to ask for details
because of the fear that the truth may be
even more awful than the lurid fantasies
he is having.
• the "bound child:" more than 98
percent of all abortions are done for
convenience or for economic or social
reasons, as proven in chapter 87,
"statistics on abortion." the parents try
to insure that their living conditions
will 'improve' to the point where another
abortion will not be 'necessary,' and so
they overprotect the surviving siblings to
the point where his curiosity,
adaptability, and intelligence are
hobbled.
• the "substitute child:" all cpc
counselors are aware of the fact that a
large percentage of women who abort
immediately become pregnant again out of a
guilty need to replace the child that they
have killed. This child may be
overprotected, but, more frequently, must
live up to very high expectations placed
upon him by his parents expectations that
they would have had for the previously
aborted child. Since this aborted child
is now idealized and can do no wrong, the
surviving child is held to impossibly high
standards and continually 'lets his
parents down.'[24]
in a world where 'self-esteem' is said to
be critically important to a child's
healthy development, the 'pro-choice'
message can only do massive harm to
children who are lucky enough to survive
the abortionist's knife. It can only lead
to a cluster of fears and self-doubts that
might be labeled the 'sibling survivor
syndrome.'
on the other hand, children of pro-life
parents have something that kids from a
pro-abortion family can never have. They
know that they are accepted and loved just
the way they are. They know that it would
have made no difference at all to their
parents even if they had been diagnosed as
having birth defects before they were
born.
Best of all, they know that they have
worth that springs from their own
existence, not worth that is conferred
upon them only if they 'measure up.'
reaching the high schoolers.
All high school classes that are now
graduating are composed entirely of
teenagers conceived several years after
the roe v. Wade decision. These high
schoolers are missing a quarter to a third
of their classmates.
Despite this appalling slaughter, many of
these teenagers are still pro-abortion.
Why?
Because they want to be 'progressive' and
popular, of course. It is a curious
paradox that those teenagers who strive
most vigorously to be 'different' from the
'establishment' become 'establishment
thinkers' to a much greater degree than
all of the rest.
But it is one thing for high schoolers to
proudly shout about their knee-jerk
pro-abortionism at a school presentation
on abortion or at a debate between a
pro-abort and a pro-lifer. It is another
thing for them to think about the
ramifications of abortion on a personal
level.
When a pro-lifer asks the overtly
pro-abortion element of a high school
audience certain questions, there is
invariably a colossal impact on the
thinking and attitudes of the entire
gathering.
Questions that a pro-lifer might ask
include;
• "are your parents 'pro-choice?' if
they are, please ask them this question:
"how many brothers and sisters don't I
have because of abortion?""
• "if your parents are 'pro-choice,'
ask them why they didn't abort you. What
if you came at a difficult time? What if
your parents were "shacking up" before
they were married? If they were, you are
very lucky indeed that you are here today,
because 80 percent of unmarried mothers
abort their children."
• "would your parents have aborted
you if you had a minor birth defect? What
about a major birth defect? Where would
they have drawn the line? Isn't treatment
like this discrimination based solely upon
a person's handicaps? Do you know anyone
who is handicapped? Why weren't they
aborted? Could it be because their
parents are pro-life?"
• "do you have any intrinsic worth
now? If so, why did you not have any
before you were born?"
some pro-life activists might object that
questions like these are cruel.
They undoubtedly are to a certain extent,
but they will bring home the reality of
abortion to teenagers like nothing else
can.
If we do not tell the younger generations
the truth, if we try to shield them from
the reality of the slaughter, we are doing
them no kindness.
Such questions will stick in the minds of
high schoolers (and college students) and
will demand a resolution one way or
another. And they will ultimately require
thought on the part of the teenager
thought that will tend to cause an
evolution in philosophy from unthinking
and unquestioning acceptance of the
'popular' pro-abortion position to
thinking and logical adherence to a
pro-life philosophy.
Pro-abortion propaganda.
[i was] enclosed by a kind of anguish ...
For the loss of a scarcely begun life, the
destruction of a child I had conceived,
should have carried, loved, and looked
after. Appeasing the ache of physical
desire I was also comforting that anguish,
trying to numb it.
"sarah," who became promiscuous after
her abortion.[25]
the reasons for the attacks.
The very existence of women suffering from
post-abortion syndrome poses a very real
threat to the abortion peddlers.
Therefore, it is logical that pro-abortion
activists should launch a propaganda
campaign whose purpose is to refute the
conclusions of a growing body of studies
that show that abortion has serious
psychological after-effects. In fact,
some anti-life groups are going so far as
to say that such studies simply do not
exist, including the speckhard study
mentioned above!
This is really not surprising, in light of
the typical pro-abortion attitude: if the
data doesn't support abortion, simply
ignore it!
There is a deeper reason to this
close-minded attitude as well; as long as
aborted women can deny the humanity of
their children and the effects of their
own abortions, they will never have to
come to grips with their repressed
grief.
Pro-abortionists, of course, have an
organic, insatiable desire to continue
believing that abortion is a good thing
for everyone. No true pro-abortionist
will admit that abortion impacts anyone in
any detrimental manner.
Pro-abort propagandists like to compare
abortion to "having a wart removed" or
"having a tooth extracted." even these
latter minor surgeries sometimes cause
psychological trauma, and yet the
pro-aborts would literally have us believe
that not one of the 20 million individual
women who have had one or more abortions
in the last twenty years has suffered any
kind of psychological trauma whatever.
Since the pro-aborts must deny that
abortion can be damaging in any way, they
will go to absurd lengths to reassure
themselves and others that what they are
doing pushing abortion is inherently noble
and good, and that what pro-lifers are
doing saving lives is "sadistic,"
"vindictive," and "exploitative."
for example, lana clarke phelan, in a
march 1968 speech before the society for
humane abortion, claimed that "out of
hundreds of women I have talked with
across the united states who have
undergone from one to 20 abortions each,
not one has expressed any regret over the
decision to abort, but all have expressed
regret for the humiliation, hypocrisy and
expense heaped on them by exploitive,
sadistic [anti-abortion] law."[26]
a careful examination of this statement
leads one to speculate as to what kind of
company phelan keeps.
Attacking informed consent.
In addition to denying the existence of
post-abortion syndrome, the
pro-abortionists have gone into an
offensive posture by suppressing the
provision of informed consent, which would
certainly affect a woman's decision about
abortion and her subsequent state of mind.
They also attack and censor scholarly
research in the field. After all the more
women know about fetal development, the
more likely they are to feel guilty about
aborting. And guilt is the one thing that
the neofeminists want to be rid of most of
all.
At the october 1989 annual conference of
the national abortion rights action
league, pollster harrison hickman stated
in a workshop entitled 'framing and
selling the pro-choice message' that
"probably nothing has been as damaging to
our cause as technological advances that
show pictures of the fetus."[27]
according to Dr. Vincent rue,
post-abortion syndrome expert and
co-director of the institute for abortion
recovery and research, based in
portsmouth, new hampshire, planned
parenthood successfully pressured the
publishers harper & row into canceling
Dr. Anne speckhard's book psycho-social
stress following abortion.[28] it was
later published by sheed and ward.
The koop 'non-report.'
pro-abortionists got a lot of mileage out
of surgeon general c. Everett koop's
january 1989 "non-report" on the
psychological and physical impacts of
abortion. This report, which had been
ordered by the reagan administration,
concluded that not enough data currently
existed on the deleterious effects of
abortion.
Pro-abortion liars and their toadies in
the press immediately twisted the
conclusions of the report. While the
report stated "inconclusive" or
"insufficient" evidence on the matter of
pas, the media reported instead "no
evidence."
koop himself was deeply enraged by this
deception and manipulation, and said
during an interview that "instead of
saying 'the surgeon general could not find
sufficient evidence to issue a
scientifically statistically accurate
report that could not be assailed,' the
associated press said, 'he could find no
evidence.' I know there are detrimental
effects [from abortion]. I have counseled
women with this problem over the last
fifteen years. There is no doubt about
it."[29]
the press also failed to mention that
ongoing research, completed too late for
inclusion in the koop report, shows
definite and concrete patterns that prove
abortion is anything but the harmless
procedure the pro-abortionists make it out
to be.
Figure 45-2 lists just a few of the early
studies that have conclusively proven the
link between abortion and subsequent
psychological disorders. The existence of
such studies show that the media is being
either extremely lazy or deliberately
dishonest.
Figure 45-2
summaries of early studies on the
psychological problems caused by abortion
• liebman and zimmer, 1979: recorded
24 different post-abortion negative
impacts.
• cavenar, spaulding, and sullivan,
1979: living children severely impacted
("survivor syndrome")
• shusterman, 1979: pas caused by
poor support, bonding with unborn baby,
dissatisfaction with decision.
• fisher, 1979: aborters have poor
relations with men, masochistic
tendencies,
and poor impulse control.
• brewer, 1978: twenty percent of
aborters experience negative psychic
trauma.
• cavenar, 1978: anniversary
reactions and psychogenic abdominal pain
common among aborters.
• cavenar, maltbie and sullivan,
1978: some women suffer for 20 years or
more; so do grandparents.
• spaulding and cavenar, 1978:
post-abortion guilt, psychoses,
anniversary
reactions common.
• blumfield, 1978: 34% of aborting
women have underlying conflicting desire
to
be pregnant.
• bracken, 1978: being married
contributed to difficulty of abortion
decision.
• burke, 1977: abortion patients
deny aggressiveness and project onto
unborn
babies to rationalize.
• kent, 1977: abortion major
indicator of subsequent suicide attempts
and
requirements for psychiatric care.
• jacobsen, perrls and espvall,
1977: aborter's psychological profile
suggests
sadomasochistic desires.
• greenglass, 1976: three percent of
aborting women attempt suicide.
• lipper, et al., 1976: repeat
aborters acutely obsessive-compulsive upon
seeing
dead baby.
• evens, selstad and welcher, 1976:
20 percent regretted abortion. Pressure
to
abort contributes to pas.
• adler, 1975: typical post-abortion
emotions; guilt, shame, fear, loss, anger,
remorse, and resentment.
• blumberg, golbus and hanson, 1975:
eugenic abortions associated with higher
rate of depression.
• bracken, hachmovitch and grossman,
1974: pas aggravated by pressure or
lack of parental support.
• moore-carver, 1974: review of
existing pas literature indicates range of
2%
to 23% severe guilt.
• martin, 1973: pas aggravated by
lack of support system and emotional
involvement in pregnancy.
• barglow and weinstein, 1973: pas
is aggravated by pressure to abort by
parents, peers, and partners
• lawrence, 1973: abortion does
little to decrease overall anxiety over a
life
situation.
• hutcherson, 1973: women who abort
were found to be low in self-esteem.
• ewing and rouse, 1973: 19 percent
of aborting women expressed immediate
negative reactions.
• kaltrieder, 1973: second-trimester
aborters who felt baby was human felt
guilty and sad.
• perez-reyes and falk, 1973: 15
percent of aborted adolescents felt
depressed, guilty, angry and anxious.
• osofsky and osofsky, 1972: 16
percent of abortion patients were unhappy
and 25 percent felt guilty.
• bracken and suigar, 1972: pas is
exacerbated by being single, young, and
lacking support.
• calef, 1972: post-abortion anxiety
can disrupt marital sexual relations.
• colman and colman, 1971: stress
from abortion can retard bonding with
subsequent children.
• pare and hermione, 1970:
post-abortion syndrome frequency increases
with
age.
• white, 1966: abortion increases
bitterness towards men, especially the
father.
• sim, 1963: abortion is not an
appropriate treatment for, nor will it
prevent,
mental illness.
Reference. Vincent rue, ph.D. "major
studies on psychological ill effects of
induced abortion." all news, december
1982, page 7.
Frightening concessions from the
pro-aborts.
Recently, a frightening trend of thought
has become prominent among pro-abortion
activists. This attitude acknowledges
that abortion is definitely killing.
However, instead of mourning or condemning
this killing, the pro-aborts say that the
killing is justified, and is not homicide,
since it is state-sanctioned.
This 'reasoning' is precisely identical to
that of the nazis in world war ii who
admitted that, when a jew was shoved into
an oven or gas chamber, killing definitely
took place but that this act was not
homicide, since it was perfectly legal.
Just as preborns are dehumanized now, the
jew was likened to an "infestation" or a
"human weed."
today, many rescuers feel chills run up
and down their backbones as they witness
abortuary owners testifying under oath,
"yes, it's killing, and yes, it's a baby,
but so what? It's legal!"
it is humorous (in a rather lugubrious
way) to see the pro-abortion movement
contort itself while trying to come to
grips with this 'new attitude.' the
anti-life people know that the vast weight
of biological evidence proves that life
exists before birth. Therefore, they are
forced to admit this fact.
For example, the authors of a woman's
guide to safe abortion say that aborted
women should "... Allow yourself to mourn
for the dead baby. Assuming, that is,
that you feel you've killed a baby." (no,
this is not a misprint)! In other words,
a mere thought can define the baby as
alive or dead.
In another book, kathleen mcdonnell,
author of not an easy choice, says that
"abortion is in some sense an act of
violence, and indisputably results in the
termination of life."
yet these and other authors who harbor
this strange attitude are strongly
pro-abortion.
Organizations dedicated to helping women
with post-abortion syndrome.
Abortions will not let you forget ...
I have heard in the voices of the wind
the voices of my dim killed children.
Gwendolyn
brooks, "the mother."[30]
many women in your area, in your
workplace, in your clubs and
organizations, and especially in your
church are suffering from post-abortion
syndrome and have no place to turn,
because nobody understands or acknowledges
their situation. These poor women must
suffer alone because the pro-abortionists
and the media have successfully convinced
the vast majority of the public that
abortion is a guilt- and pain-free
process.
There are more than a dozen
nationally-based pro-life organizations
that exist specifically to lessen the
burden of aborted women. These groups
research post-abortion syndrome, assist
women in the filing of lawsuits against
abortuaries that have injured them, and
provide counseling and support.
These organizations, listed below, can
also supply literature, counseling, and
information on other resources in your
area. If no local chapter of these
organizations exists in your area, you
might be interested in starting one.
There will be a pressing need for such
groups until the last generation of
aborted women passes away, and abortion is
just an ugly memory, a historical
curiosity for scholars with strong
stomachs
