The Post-Abortion Review is the quarterly journal of the Elliot Institute, ISSN 1083-9496. The Elliot Institute was founded in 1988 to perform original research and education on the impact of abortion on women, men, siblings, and society. The Post-Abortion Review reports on the research and activities of the Elliot Institute and related post-abortion issues.
The Review is edited by David C. Reardon, Ph.D., Director of the Elliot Institute.
Elliot Institute
PO Box 7348
Springfield, IL 62791-7348
(217) 525-8202
Website:http://www.afterabortion.org/
I teach childbirth education to pregnant teenagers. My job is to prepare young parents for parenthood. This includes the possibility of parenting a baby with a birth defect or being the parent of a baby that is miscarried, stillborn, or dies soon after birth.
Date posted: 2003-02-19
There are many former abortion advocates like Carol Everett, Norma McCorvey, Dr. Beverly McMillan, and Dr. Tony Levatino who became "converts" to the pro-life cause because they experienced the love of pro-lifers. This should remind us that those who are most outspoken in defense of Roe v. Wade are really crying out for acceptance. If we are to convert a nation, we must, as ambassadors of Christ's mercy and love, accept and embrace them.
Date posted: 2003-02-19
The bottom line is that physicians have a legal and moral duty to protect their patients. They have a duty to recommend only those medical procedures which are most likely to help their patients. They also have a duty to discourage and even to refuse treatments that are more likely to hurt their patients than help them.
Date posted: 2002-12-27
I grew up in a physically and verbally abusive home. My youngest sister drowned when I was seven years old and my mother blamed me for it. I cooked, cleaned, cared for my siblings, and received daily beatings from my mother. I was told to be quiet, take what was coming to me, and not talk about our family. I did just that.
Date posted: 2002-12-27
I had asked God many times to allow me the opportunity to minister behind prison walls. I didn't know how He would open the door for me, but I never stopped asking Him.
Date posted: 2002-12-27
"When I got up to talk about post-abortion, suddenly a lot of the women had to leave the room to go to the bathroom," Saunders said. "There was a little gal in the front row who reached down and got her coat and crawled right under it. The pain in that room was so evident. But afterwards, there were so many women who came up to us and asked us to do a program for them to help them work through those issues."
Date posted: 2002-12-27
Manda is serving time at a women's prison in Coldwater, Michigan. This is her second imprisonment. Her life has been scarred by many traumatic events: placement in foster care at the age of six, marriage to an abusive husband at 15, an abortion, imprisonment. Yet behind prison walls, Manda has found hope.
Date posted: 2002-12-27
I was 24 years old, and had recently had sex for the first timeoutside of marriage. I had grown up in a Christian home and was already ashamed and ambivalent about my sexual relationship. Then I got pregnant right off the bat.
Date posted: 2002-10-28
Pro-life Christians -- especially Catholics and Evangelicals -- are often accused of being judgmental and insensitive to the needs of women. But the abortion proponents who make this accusation fail to realize that while the Church must boldly defend the truth and unmask evil wherever it is, its primary mission is to bring Christ's forgiveness and healing to sinners. This is why true pro-life Christianity involves caring about women both before and after they have had an abortion.
Date posted: 2002-10-28
Polls show that while 80 percent of Americans agree that abortion is killing a human life, most also believe abortion should be legally accessible, at least in some cases. Many of these people accept abortion as an "evil necessity." Others tolerate it as an "unavoidable evil." They buy into the assumption that without "safe and legal" abortions, desperate women will foolishly seek out dangerous and illegal abortions. Since abortion can't be stopped, they argue, why put women's lives at risk?
Date posted: 2002-10-28
Women who have an abortion are five times more likely to report subsequent substance abuse compared to women who carry to term, according to a study published in the latest issue of the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse.
Date posted: 2002-10-22
Researchers have found that teenagers who have abortions face a number of higher risks. For example, teens are more likely to feel pressured into their abortions, to report being misinformed in pre-abortion counseling and to experience more severe psychological stress after abortion.
Date posted: 2002-10-22
Abortion advocates speak proudly of "freedom to choose," conjuring up images of women freely and autonomously making decisions that are "right" for them. But research into abortion decision making presents a far different picture.
Date posted: 2002-10-22
Abortion is one of the most frequently performed surgical procedures in the United States -- yet it is the least regulated. It is the only elective surgical procedure that I know of in which the doctor performing the procedure is not responsible for follow-up care, nor does he or she take an active role in dealing with the complications. Not only this, but the very nature of abortion clinics, which practice in isolation from the rest of the medical community, keeps the abortion provider free from accountability for these complications.
Date posted: 2002-08-27
A recent, unimpeachable study of pregnancy-associated deaths in Finland has shown that the risk of dying within a year after an abortion is several times higher than the risk of dying after miscarriage or childbirth.
Date posted: 2002-08-27
Do not do things because you are pressured by others. When you are pregnant, you are in no emotional state to make such big decisions. You may think that you will have a hard life if you have the baby -- and you will -- but it will all work out in the end. You just have to have strength, hope, love, and patience to get you through.
Date posted: 2001-10-00
Before the Rev. Jesse Jackson entered presidential politics, he correctly preached that abortion was a form of genocide that would devastate the black community. African American pro-life leaders, such as the Rev. Johnny Hunter of L.E.A.R.N., continue to preach the same message. Our research suggests that their instincts are right.
Date posted: 2001-07-00
Educating the public about the aftermath of abortion is especially important. Most people who have supported a "pro-choice" position understood themselves as supporting something that was good for women. When they find out that abortion rates are declining, that better-informed women are choosing abortion less frequently, and that those who have had abortions are now counseling against it and entering into post-abortion healing programs, it will not be difficult or stressful for them to accept this new information and modify their views to a more pro-life position. This approach allows them to maintain their view of themselves as compassionate both before and after they learned this new information.
Date posted: 2001-07-00
These studies, along with many others, clearly contradict the unsubstantiated assumption that carrying a so-called "unwanted" pregnancy to term is more harmful to women than undergoing an abortion. Unfortunately, the protective effects of childbirth in lowering a woman's risk of psychological problems, substance abuse, smoking, reproductive problems, pregnancy complications and certain types of cancer have received scant attention.
Date posted: 2001-04-00
It was June 1977 when I found myself pregnant. I felt like my whole life was crashing in. Nice girls like me don't get pregnant! I had just finished my junior year in high school and had made the Honor Roll. I had started looking into different colleges. I was making big plans for my life.
Date posted: 2001-01-00
In many cases, the parents truly believe they are helping to protect their daughter's future. They have no idea that they are subjecting her to a physical and psychological trauma that will forever scar her life. Nor will the abortion clinics, who have a vested interest in keeping the dangers of abortion secret, explain the full range of risks to teenagers,their parents, or -- in the case of judicial bypass -- the judges who stand in the place of the parents.
Date posted: 2001-01-00
An examination of the evidence linking abortion to premature and low-birth weight births that may result in immediate or delayed developmental handicaps, including cerebral palsy. Is this the explanation for the high level of handicaps among black children? Why aren't women told about this risk?
Date posted: 2000-10-00
A moving testimony of a deep and lasting healing following the trauma of a teenagers abortion.
Date posted: 2000-10-00
Population controllers have long insisted that abortion is healthier for women than childbirth. A host of studies examining the effects of abortion, however, have proved otherwise. Women who have abortions often face increased physical and emotional problems, including substance abuse, mental disorders, impaired fertility, pregnancy loss, and breast cancer. This article will examine the various studies and what they say about the risks of abortion.
Date posted: 2000-07-00