Relationships can be significantly impacted by the decision to have an abortion. Single individuals may find themselves jumping from one relationship to another or avoiding them altogether. Marriages can crumble, parents may struggle to bond with their children, and healthy communication can become rare. As a result, many people are silently suffering and desperately need the church to address this issue. It’s not just about women, as men are also significantly impacted. True relief and peace only come through Divine healing.
A woman is designed to nurture and care for her children, and a man is designed to protect and provide for his family. When couples choose abortion, they reject God’s design for them. Trust and intimacy are broken, replaced by anger, disappointment, and regret. This is hardly a solid foundation for a flourishing relationship.
“Divorce is the antithesis to all God created, called, equipped, and empowered us to do and experience in life!”
Mike and Pat Layton
Following an abortion, many people become numb, angry, guilt-ridden, and broken. Their ability to bond with their children and engage in relationships, emotionally and physically, is often hampered. Abortion is the devastating result of the breakdown of the intention of sex and commitment, and it harms every single person involved because it is an outright rejection of all that God intended.
Abortion affects more people than we realize. Relationship difficulties happen with:
- The man and the woman
- Post-abortive individual and present and future children
- Grandparents of the aborted child
- Aunts, uncles and other family members
- Others who may be pregnant
- Future relationships if the couple doesn’t stay together
- Parent and adolescent if she chose or felt forced to have an abortion
In reality, every single relationship surrounding the woman and man who have chosen or have been forced into abortion is affected until they find healing through the Lord.
Many people choose to keep their abortion decision to themselves and don’t often tell another soul. It’s possible that the hidden root of many broken relationships in our churches is abortion. We may see a struggle between a parent and a child and wonder if there has been a history of abortion. What about between a married couple? There are many scenarios where we see brokenness and think it’s one thing, but in actuality, we are just seeing a symptom and not the abortion as the root cause.
As church leaders who are often counseling and helping those in their church overcome difficulties, it’s important to remember that the deeper struggle may be from a past abortion that is having an impact on their current relationships.
