Tag Archives: Rachel’s Vineyard

Women Offer Healing after Abortion in the Wake of Horrific Planned Parenthood Videos

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This week, in the midst of newly released undercover videos of Planned Parenthood, a friend reminded me of how the news is affecting people who’ve experienced abortion.

SilentNoMore1These videos show the terrible reality of what happens in abortion centers: preborn babies are crushed and torn apart and their body parts are harvested. These videos are hard enough for me to watch. I can’t imagine how difficult they must be for women and men whose babies were aborted.

Karen Perez, who had an abortion just after she was married, told a Texas news channel that the past few weeks have been very difficult for her as she watched the Planned Parenthood scandal unfold.

“These videos are just opening up a lot of memories for a lot of women. For me, it’s memories that I never imagined I’d see,” Perez said.

Perez said she originally believed the lie that her preborn baby wasn’t a baby yet.

“It was just a blob of tissue. And I believed that, I believed that it was just a blob of tissue,” Perez said, “until five years later when we had a child — we had three more children — and I saw the ultrasound, and I saw the little hands and the little feet.”

Today, Perez helps other women like herself find healing from the pain and regret of their abortions. Watch the full story here.

Theresa Burke, Ph.D., founder of the post-abortion healing ministry Rachel’s Vineyard, recently wrote a column in response to the horrific undercover videos, calling for our society to help families grieve the loss of their preborn babies to abortion.

“I know the women and men I serve never bargained for the assaultive flashbacks and nightmares they suffer as fragments of trauma shear into their consciousness,” Burke wrote. “The images that constitute their waking and sleeping hours are like fortress prisons of guarded depression, anxiety, avoidance, numbing behaviors, and grief. This is what I have witnessed from a lifetime of listening to stories of abortion from all over the world, as women and men, grandparents and siblings grieve the members of their family who are not here anymore.”

If you know someone who is hurting after an abortion, tell them about Rachel’s Vineyard, a confidential, caring post-abortion healing program for women and men. Learn more at RachelsVineyard.org.

Pro-Life Volunteers Offer Hope to Hurting at Creation Festival

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Last week, six volunteers and I ran a pro-life outreach table at the annual Creation music festival in Central Pennsylvania. This year, I was surprised by the number of people seeking post-abortion healing.

P1060071One man in his 30s came up to ask how he could become involved. He shared his desire to serve in inner city Philadelphia where he grew up. After talking for a while, he told me that he and his girlfriend had an abortion many years ago.

P1060077McKennaugh, one of our volunteers, talked with a teenager who asked a number of questions about abortion. Her face grew more and more troubled as McKennaugh kindly explained when a baby’s heart begins beating and showed her what a baby looks like at 12 weeks gestation. The teen then revealed that she had had an abortion. McKennaugh tried to console her and offer information about post-abortion healing programs, but she ran away.P1060103

Our volunteer Tiffany listened as another teen shared about how troubled she was by her sister’s abortions. Tiffany offered her information about pregnancy and parenting support, as well as post-abortion healing programs.

These were just a few of our experiences across the four-day festival. By the end, we had given away almost all of our post-abortion healing materials.

We do outreach at Creation every year, but I’ve never heard as many abortion stories as I did this year. Abortion is a painful, controversial topic; and most people avoid it — especially when it has affected them personally. But this year, people opened up to us.

I pondered the fact with our executive director yesterday when I returned to the office, and he suggested that it was because of our volunteers’ attitudes. Thinking back across the week, I believe he is right.

Our volunteers this year were young, passionate pro-lifers who approached people with the utmost kindness and compassion as they shared the truth about abortion. They listened and spoke in love, even to several pro-choice people who approached our table. I know at least one pro-choice person walked away impressed by what we said.

The experience reminded me of how important it is that we be approachable as pro-lifers, that we exhibit an attitude of love. Our young volunteers touched hearts last week by speaking the truth in love. They shared about post-abortion healing programs and pregnancy hotlines, answered challenging questions, and listened to people who just needed to talk.

And as a result, I believe more people today are finding access to the help and healing they need.

If you know someone who is hurting after an abortion, visit RachelsVineyard.org.

Woman Shares Her Journey to Healing after Eight Abortions

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When I met Tammi Morris for the first time, she helped me to understand something I’ve struggled with many times – why a woman would have multiple abortions.

Tammi had eight.

Tammi came from a difficult background. She grew up in a very poor neighborhood. Her mother was battling substance abuse.35a420_d8ea7fbe3e57414eb756db83b7bdcbda

Tammi found herself pregnant at 16, and people looked down on her for it. Not long after giving birth to her baby girl, everyone around Tammi basically abandoned her, and she became homeless. When she was just 17, she had to battle her in-laws to keep custody of her baby daughter. She was young, frightened, and all alone.

It was then that she found herself pregnant again. Already at her whits end, she didn’t see any way she could have another baby. So, Tammi had an abortion.

“They say there’s no fate worse than death, but it my mind there was – and that was me being your mother,” Tammi told me. “And I would go on to believe that for 13 years.”

Tammi was determined to change her life. She got her GED, went to college, and worked multiple jobs. She eventually gained the success that she had dreamed of: a good job, house in the suburbs, SUV, and pool in the backyard. But inside, she was still broken. She continued to have abortions.

One day, Tammi said God touched her broken heart in a powerful way. She cleaned up her life and eventually found healing and forgiveness for aborting eight of her children.

Now, she is sharing her story publicly because she wants to help other post-abortive women know that there is forgiveness in Christ. She also has a strong desire to encourage pregnant women to choose life.

There is much more to Tammi’s story, and I would strongly encourage you to listen to her tell it on our April LifeLines podcast. Or visit Tammi’s website.

Tammi, in her humility, helped me to understand how her brokenness and desperation led to her abortions, and how desperately pregnant and new moms need our encouragement and support and post-abortive women need our forgiveness and compassion.

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If you or someone you know is pregnant and needs help, contact the Pennsylvania pregnancy hotline at 1-888-LIFE-AID or click here to find a pregnancy center near you.

If you or someone you know is seeking healing after an abortion, contact Rachel’s Vineyard here.