From the Mail BagDear David Reardon: What information do you have on post-abortion syndrome? My little sister was raped during college and she had an abortion and she has remained, it seems, in much sorrow about it. My good friend bought into the Planned Parenthood lies and did the Pill, etc., then also had an abortion. She finally said, "When I had that abortion I damned myself." Then she went on to drugs, drink, sex, pregnancy and miscarriage, another pregnancy and a shot gun wedding, birth, abuse, divorce, then drugs, and abandoned her child to her parents and other family members to raise. She is now in a halfway house after getting dried out in a hospital. Do you have any information to help her? One time she saw a shrink who deals only with victims of violent crimes. She paid him $100 and he said, "Well, you're just under stress. This is nothing to worry about." She went to him just to tell him that she had an abortion. -- Kristen P.
Dear Dr. Reardon,Thank you for allowing Kansans for Life to excerpt some of your chapters from Making Abortion Rare for a House committee hearing on our Women's Right to Know Act. We are having quite a battle in our Senate and with our pro-abort governor. Your books and newsletter have been extremely helpful in preparing our weekly 1-page update to lawmakers. Our press conference coverage in the newspaper showed that your stuff is great. Everything they quoted us on was our utilization of the strategy/terminology straight from Making Abortion Rare. Keep doing the Lord's Work, Kathy Ostrowski
Ed.: The following is from a letter sent to my biggest promoter, my Mom . . .Dear Joan, Thank you for the copy of your son's book. I have searched for years for my own position or personal philosophy regarding abortion. I have always believed it to be wrong--but never appreciated the "hate debate" surrounding the issue. Your son's proposal focuses on healing the schism between those who have aborted and those who believe it is wrong--i.e., notably that the Church really reflects Christ's message of unconditional love. I was touched. This message is quite profound. Thank you again for sharing this with me. -- Love, Carol
Dear Mr. Reardon,Recently, I read your two books Aborted Women, Silent No More and Making Abortion Rare and cried more than a few times. The information you have amassed is so compelling that I can't imagine that anyone could read these books and not be thoroughly overwhelmed by the horror of abortion and ashamed of the rationalizations that have been used to support it. I agree with your assertions that the "traditional" efforts of the pro-life movement have been slow to effect change because people do not want to see the truth. The more effective the pro-life movement is in demonstrating and emphasizing the humanity of an unborn child, the more of a need pro-choicers will have to hide from the truth and cling to the idea that they are protecting women's rights. This is the very problem your books are designed to combat. By exploring post-abortion issues you are tearing down the pro-choice "hiding place" of being pro-woman. The testimony of aborted women (and men) shows painfully clearly that abortion does not help women; it harms them. Post-abortion data proves that it is not possible to be, as Vice President Gore recently claimed, pro-choice and pro-woman. I think that some of the most convincing testimony to the fact that an unborn child is human is the fact that the vast majority of aborted women suffer psychological torment . . . because they know they have taken a human life. Accordingly, I feel that putting the spotlight on the suffering of aborted women does not sidestep or diminish the importance of the "real reason" for putting an end to abortion: to save the lives of the unborn. Instead, it supports the primary goal and needs to be placed side-by-side with it to strip away the myth that protecting the "abortion right" demonstrates concern form women. Since it seems to me that you have hit on the key to the undoing of the pro-choice rationale, I want to support your efforts and have enclosed a donation to the Elliot Institute. Sincerely, Lee Ann Crowley
Massachusetts
Dear Dr. Reardon:Enclosed please find my sustaining partnership donation to the Elliot Institute. I just wanted to take a moment to thank God and you for the work that you do. As a post-aborted woman myself, I am truly touched by the dedication of all who work to protect women and their unborn children. When I started to read your book, Making Abortion Rare: A Healing Strategy for a Divided Nation, I felt as if you were writing things that I have been praying to hear someone say for twenty-four years. With the prayers and encouragement of friends and family, I have recently undertaken an innovative outreach campaign to put a face on the faceless. I have been blessed to compassionately profile those who have been exploited and deceived by the corruption of "choice," speaking publicly with the hopeful purpose of emancipating post-aborted women from their victims' status. My message is simple: abortion does not empower women; it subjugates them and sacrifices their children. I am endeavoring to show that the abortion "liberty" is a pretext for oppression that continues to create more and more "walking wounded." Some of these wounded, angry and defiant, cling to the rationalization that they, as creators, also have the right to destroy. Others, secretive and sullen, are unable to fully know who God created them to be because of their guilt and inability to trust or accept divine forgiveness. I offer the testimony of an aborted woman's journey from people-pleaser, to the dark recesses of abortion pain, and back into the joyful land of the living. As you have been saying, pro-lifers must realize that many post-aborted women feel minimized by both pro-abortion and pro-life advocates. They feel judged as weak and in need of "fixing." On one side, the defenders of abortion often blame post-aborted women's conversions on feeble minds or on being manipulated by the clergy or "right-wing extremists." On the other side, some pro-life advocates judge post-aborted women as being cold-hearted or simply in need of a conscience. After they have experienced the trauma of abortion and "rediscovered their consciences," these women may be accepted by pro-life groups, but in many respects they may still be invisibly silenced. Pro-lifers say "we love them both," but many still speak with a tone of condemnation. Pro-lifers are willing to embrace the woman who chooses to give her child a chance for life, but do they really embrace the woman who has bitten the apple of abortion and is suffering? Do they really see her, like all human beings, subject to coercion, temptation, and sin? As well intentioned as many pro-life advocates are, statements such as "I just don't know how any woman could murder her own child!" or "Well on judgment day, they'll be held accountable!" only continue to subjugate post-aborted women and keep them in silence. This is why many post-aborted women identify themselves with the pro-choice movement in an effort to find acceptance without judgment. To the average uncommitted American, the "pro-choice" side offers the embracing spirit of "non-judgmentalism." Indeed, this viewpoint, at least superficially, appears to reflect an important Christian principle: "Judge not lest ye be judged." How then can the pro-life movement compete for the respect of those who are attracted to non-judgmentalism? First, pray. Pray for a spirit of understanding and compassion. Second, separate the sin (which we can judge) from the sinner (whom we cannot judge). Refrain from judgment and be willing and able to truly love both mother and child. Realize that "there but for the grace of God, go I," or my sister, my friend, or my neighbor. Third, educate others as to the reality of the coerciveness of abortion and that abortion isn't good for women. Reclaim "choice" by offering real alternatives. Promote the rights of women considering abortion to complete pre-abortion screening and counseling, to accurate information about fetal development, and to full disclosure of the physical, psychological, and emotional risks of abortion. Fourth, expose abortion for the pretext it is--similar to the fruit of the tree of knowledge, a temptation to know one's own self as a god. Reveal the truth of what post-abortion trauma is costing our nation, socially, economically, and spiritually. Fifth, embrace any woman you know who carries the burden of guilt over abortion. Hers is the face of abortion. Emancipate her from her victim status. Invite her to speak, and listen with a desire to learn, thus giving her a voice so the truth can be heard and hearts will be softened. Thank you again for all that you are doing and for this opportunity to share the goals of my ministry with you. God bless, Cythnia A. Klopfer
The Face of Abortion
60 Forest Drive
Mashpee, MA 02646
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