I’ve Heard It Said That Abortion Is Healthcare

This article is part of the I’ve Heard It Said series.

Women Need Support

I’ve heard it said that “abortion is healthcare.” I think I understand the sentiment behind that declaration. I do have friends who are involved in the pro-choice movement and even in providing abortions themselves. From my conversations with them, I know that they pursue this kind of work from a posture that they feel is compassionate.

They see women who are on the margins—women who have an unplanned pregnancy or are experiencing poverty or abuse or neglect, women who are at risk in so many ways, women who feel like, I can’t possibly bring a child into this world, into this context that I’m living in. And so those who I know who are on the pro-choice side feel like abortion is the compassionate option for this suffering woman. And so they say that abortion is healthcare. This is how they’re providing for the care and the health of that woman.

But the sociological data—research, surveys, statistics—there is such a body of evidence that says women who choose an abortion are not healthy after the abortion. What’s true is that 80 percent of women say they would not have chosen abortion if they had been more supported. If they had not been so encouraged to pursue the abortion, they would not have done it in the first place. And that’s what they’re saying after the abortion. Eighty percent are voicing immediate regret.

Not only that, but we know that the suicidality of women who’ve had an abortion is very high. There’s a 155 percent increased risk of suicide for those who have had abortion. So if we’re looking at the numbers, if we’re looking at the evidence, if we’re hearing the stories of women who believed that abortion was their best option and chose it, they will tell you they are not well and that it was a painful decision that has lasting ramifications.

Now, I will say, of course, that healing is available, as are forgiveness and recovery. There are so many wonderful, gracious, merciful programs and pregnancy centers, therapists, and counseling groups all over the country that provide healing and care to women who’ve had an abortion. So if that’s you, hear me: you are not beyond forgiveness or recovery or joy. All of that is available in Jesus. And I am expecting that for you and believe that you will walk in that freedom.

Women who don’t know what to do with unplanned pregnancy don’t need an abortion; what they need is care.

But as we think about a post-Roe culture, as we think about how America might handle this issue moving forward, I just want to push back on the phrase that “abortion is healthcare” and remind the world that actually women who pursue abortion suffer quite a bit afterwards. Women who are on the margins, women who are vulnerable, women who don’t know what to do with unplanned pregnancy don’t need an abortion; what they need is care.

They need our government, our churches, people, Christians, the body of Christ, and our communities to come around them and make motherhood possible. Make it doable because these women have good doctors, they have housing, they have a vehicle, they have a job, they’re empowered and equipped and enabled by the body of Christ.

Church, let’s stand up and fill this void and make motherhood a really joyful option. Make it doable for this woman. Make abortion unnecessary and unthinkable—not an option for her because she has the services and support she needs to bring this baby into the world.

Jen Oshman is the author of Cultural Counterfeits: Confronting 5 Empty Promises of Our Age and How We Were Made for So Much More.

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