The Ugly Truth of Post-Abortion Syndrome

“In 2007, the New York Times stated that scientific evidence ‘strongly shows that abortion does not increase the risk of depression, drug abuse or any other psychological problem.’ This confident assertion--already dubious when it was made--is being overwhelmed by reams of evidence suggesting the contrary: that abortion leaves a discernible wake of sorrow, suffering, and devastation. Along with the disturbing statistics, however, is the compelling testimony of real women who have aborted their children and of what happened to their lives as a result. Though abortion does often provide a short-term solution to real problems pregnant women face, thus granting some immediate relief, the myth that women come out of abortion psychologically unscathed now seems unsustainable. ... Lori Nerad ... former national president of Women Exploited by Abortion ... says she still wakes up in the middle of the night, thinking she hears a baby crying. ‘And I still have nightmares in which I am forced to watch my baby being ripped apart in front of me. I simply miss my baby. I constantly wake up wanting to nurse my child, wanting to hold my child. And that’s something the doctor never told me I would experience,’ she said. Katrina Fernandez makes no bones about the reality of what she did. ‘I killed two of my children,’ she said, ‘robbed my parents of grand-children, and murdered my son’s siblings.’ She says that she would have given anything for someone to simply tell her: ‘You don’t have to do this.’ The abortions also took a toll on Fernandez’s life and mental health, a factor often overlooked in debate regarding abortion. ... ‘The suffering I've endured and caused others is immeasurable and the guilt almost drove me suicidal. I am a coward in every way,’ she said. And yet now, convinced that silence fails women who need encouragement to carry their babies to term, Fernandez declares: ‘I refuse to be a coward anymore.’”

“The Ugly Truth of Post-Abortion Syndrome: Testimony from Real Women Who Aborted Their Babies,” Breitbart.com, Dec. 3, 2014

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