Reclaiming Our Children: A Blog About Healing After Abortion

"If we don’t go public, how do we take away the shaming involved and put faces on very real experiences of our orientation, assault or abortion?"

So laments the gay woman who wrote the blog posted below. And I am sure she believes it. Imagine feeling like there is no way to remove the shame you feel except to go public with your abortion.

I agree, people need to recognize abortion has a face. It is your mother, your sister, your aunt, your cousin, your friend. We have all been touched by abortion, but freeing yourself from shame does not come from the outside..it comes from inside, and it does not come from "self" it comes from "other" and that other is God.

It is true that there is stigma attached to abortion. I know a lot of people still judge. In doing a fund raiser for Lumina, I am wondering how I will get support, but the difference is, I trust in God, I know He freed me from the shame and guilt of my abortion, and although I know having gone public may hamper me in some places, I also know millions of others are out there having experienced abortion.

As I have said before, going public is not for everyone and I totally hate it when people make it seem like you have to go public to heal. That is not true, in fact, it can be acompletely selfish act , but I also believe society needs to begin to recognize the pain and destruction abortion has caused and for some, stepping out in public is His will. For others it may just be sharing with other post abortive people, or speaking to a good counselor, or spiritual director.

At any rate, when I read these types of things it makes me ever more grateful for what God has done in my life …here is the blog post..when I read it I actually liked this person and wondered how she ended up working at PP I also wondered if she is gay BECAUSE she works at PP and sees all the hurt etc…who knows….

Come Out, Come Out, Wherever/Whoever You Are…Or Don’t.

Only a little more than a year ago, I sat in my room, holding back tears as I came out as gay to my mom.  I did so for numerous reasons, mostly personal.  However, as an advocate for LGBTQ rights, I definitely felt the pressure. The pressure to come out and show the world that we come in all shapes and sizes, that “it’s okay to be gay.”

Coming out has become, in many ways, as political a choice as it is personal. Similarly, one can “come out” not only as LGBTQ identifying, but also as a survivor of domestic violence or sexual assault, or as having had an abortion, among other reasons. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the coming out process for those who have had abortions, as it is directly tied to the work that I am doing here at Planned Parenthood Mid-Hudson Valley.

here is the rest http://ppmhvafblog.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/come-out-come-out-whereverwhoever-you-are-or-dont/