Is God Necessary for Abortion Healing?

Recap of March 16, 2022 Abortion Healing Provider Webinar

Most abortion healing programs and providers are faith-based, while consumer research shows that 84% of individuals wounded from abortion report preferring a non-faith based approach. This begs the question that was the topic of our March 16 Abortion Healing Provider training: Is God Necessary for Abortion Healing? Pastor Marc Little and Fr. Shawn Monahan, OMV, members of the Support After Abortion Board of Directors, offered valuable insight into how faith-based ministries can help bring healing to those who may not be open to a message of faith.

Key Highlights:

God is always necessary for healing, but we can’t always lead with Jesus or prayer. We need to lead with love. Our role is to be the merciful presence and compassionate heart of Jesus.
Some people just aren’t ready for faith-based messages or healing due to brokenness, trauma, shame, fear, anger, and belief that God has abandoned them. They need to start with “small h” healing – therapy, counseling, or other non-faith approaches where they can start to acknowledge their symptoms and what’s happening inside.
Anger is a huge factor in abortion woundedness and an obstacle to healing. It is a sign of some other emotion being pushed down. But, anger can be a GIFT revealing what could be underneath it (Guilt, Inferiority, Fear, Trauma).

To get to a place of forgiveness, we need to identify what keeps the anger, unforgiveness, and bitterness in place. We can share with those who are struggling that forgiveness isn’t forgetting or saying what happened is okay, or letting someone off the hook, and it doesn’t have to be a feeling. It is a decision of the will to move away from punitive anger toward someone else and focus on our own healing and loving ourselves.

We can only be healed when we feel safe. So, we need to be a safe, non-judgmental, confidential listening space. Let our words be free of judgment and full of compassion, understanding, and active listening.
Tremendous healing happens through listening to someone’s story. So, encourage story sharing – yours and your clients’. Being heard and affirmed builds trust. The power of saying, “Thank you for sharing that with me. This can’t be an easy thing for you.” can’t be underestimated.

Many women think they are the only one who feels this way, has had this many abortions, is too old for healing, etc., so they keep quiet. Affirm that they are not alone. Knowing that others have been through this and would like to walk the journey with them, can release that obstacle to seeking help.

Just like with physical wounds, it takes time to heal emotionally. Stress that healing is a journey, not a one-and-done or D-I-Y project.

In responding to provider questions, Fr. Shawn spent some time sharing insights on forgiveness and explained 15 Steps to Forgiving Someone.

Fr. Shawn and Pastor Marc ended this month’s webinar with elevating words of peace for Abortion Healing Providers themselves:

Understand we are not God. Oftentimes we find ourselves in a position where we want to make something so. But, the client has free will. So, we lift up the standard, then let God do the work. When we are really in a life and death situation, we can feel a lot of pressure to find the right words, right here, right now. In those moments, we may not have those words – we need to ask and trust the Holy Spirit for the words to speak that will lodge in their heart. Give us Lord, the words of everlasting life and words of hope. May God’s grace be upon us as we seek to be agents of hope and healing in a world that’s so hurting and in need of both.

Click here to watch the March 16 Abortion Healing Provider webinar.

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