Abortions are performed more than 4,000 times every day in the United States. Since 1973 more than 43 million unborn babies have been killed. While some of their mothers suffer relatively little trauma following abortion, many experience a devastating impact. Psychologists, counselors and those who work in post-abortion ministry consistently attest to the fact that, in addition to taking the life of the child, abortion also wounds the mother, the father and often other family members as well.

Any kind of a violent encounter can traumatize the victim.  Abortion is a violent act against a mother and child and thus it is not uncommon for the woman to suffer, in varying degrees, some or even many of the following symptoms:

• Low self-esteem
• Depression - sometimes to the point of becoming suicidal
• Desire for a "replacement" baby
• Alienation from family and friends
• Unresolved grief
• Alcohol and drug problems
• Abortion-related nightmares or flashbacks
• Sexual dysfunction, promiscuity, or problems with intimacy
• Anniversary reactions of grief, depression or anger on the date of the abortion or the baby's expected due date
• Problems bonding with her other children (over-protective but emotionally distant)
• Fear that God will never forgive her
• Abusive relationships
• Physical pain - actual or psychosomatic
• Difficulties in subsequent pregnancies
  
  Women often share their "female" experiences with each other, but they are extremely reluctant to share information about an abortion experience for fear of being judged. Although society promotes abortion as the best way to solve a crisis pregnancy, women still harbor a feeling deep in their hearts that what they did was terribly wrong. They equate making a bad choice with being a bad person and so feel they must hide, at all costs, this shameful part of their past. Women and men often suffer in silence for years, believing that they are the only ones to experience such negative reactions.