Praying for Women Hurt by Abortion

With around 56 million abortions performed worldwide every year, untold numbers of women are facing the anguish, guilt, anger, and desperation that follows. While abortion advocates say they are for a woman’s freedom to choose, the reality is that many women facing an unplanned pregnancy feel they have no freedom and no choice. They feel abandoned and afraid, and they believe that abortion is their only option.

Because abortion is legal and supported by their cultures, many women believe it’s the right thing to do. Many others, however, have come to realize that abortion not only kills innocent babies but also negatively affects the lives of the women who carried them.

Scientific studies in Australia, Denmark, China, Finland, India, New Zealand, Sweden, Turkey, and other countries show that abortions do hurt women. Abortion-inducing drugs cause complications that require emergency treatment and sometimes even cause death. Surgical abortions can result in life-threatening hemorrhage and infection. Abortions can result in higher risk of future infertility, stillbirths, premature births, and miscarriages. Studies show an increased risk of breast cancer. Furthermore, many women suffer deep mental and spiritual pain after their abortion.

Many women chose to abort because they were taught that the baby was only a mass of tissue. Some abortion supporters do not want the biological facts about the baby’s development taught in schools or to women facing difficult choices.

The baby’s tiny heart begins to beat 22 days after fertilization. By the seventh week, the baby's eyes, inner ears, and major organs (heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys) are developing. Eight weeks after conception, all the baby’s organs, muscles, and nerves begin to function. By the ninth week, the baby’s whole body except the tongue is sensitive to touch. The brain is growing rapidly and producing more than 250,000 nerve cells a minute. At 10 weeks the brain is fully formed, and the baby can feel pain.

To help women realize that they are not alone nor that abortion is their only option, there are a number of episodes of Women of Hope that address this issue. Every once in awhile, we hear directly from our audience like this listener from Cambodia:

I am 33 years old. I listened to the Women of Hope lesson about abortion, which really touched my heart. I am a single mother to my daughter as my husband divorced me.

Now I am about three months pregnant. I thought that I couldn't keep the baby. So many times I tried to end the baby's life. After I listened to the program about abortion, I cried. I really felt ashamed because I know that if I had not listened, I would have continued to try to abort my baby. Now I have changed my mind. I will keep my baby.

Moreover, I do really want Jesus to live in me and to protect me and my baby and to bring us out of this difficult situation. I really thank the Women of Hope program for bringing me hope and God's Word.

Please pray for my faith to grow, as I am a new believer.

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