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HERALD Editor |
Kim is a farmer’s daughter from Minnesota. Although raised in a strong Catholic family, she drifted away from the faith during college. It took a life-changing experience for her to rediscover her roots.
She recently shared her testimony with a group of priests, counselors and medical personnel at a Project Rachel training session sponsored by Arlington Diocese.
The apple of her father’s eye, Kim, by all accounts, was an excellent student on the fast-track toward success. But her bright future appeared over when she discovered she was pregnant. The father of her child was her boyfriend of many years.
Kim rationalized in her own mind that abortion was her only choice.
She did not want to disappoint her family, especially her father, who was
devastated years earlier when Kim’s older sister came home pregnant. That
pregnancy resulted in an illegitimate birth and left the family
emotionally scarred. Kim’s father told her never to put him through
that again.
Kim aborted her child at 21 weeks gestation. She had no attachment to her unborn child. She didn’t even consider it to be a baby. Kim became "militantly pro-choice" following her abortion as a defense mechanism to justify her actions.
She bought into society’s values about life and choice. She underwent a dramatic personality change. She thought of attempting suicide by driving her car off the road. She had no close friends. She felt dirty. "I was dying inside," she said. "There was no light."
While attending graduate school in the Washington area, Kim attended a Catholic young adult retreat in the Arlington Diocese, during which she made her first confession in seven years.
"The priest didn’t know what he was in for," Kim said.
"It was an amazing point for me," she added. "It propelled me forward. The most difficult part was looking at my life prior to the abortion. You have to clean that wound layer upon layer. It is painful." Kim said women who have abortions may turn to broken relationships, substance abuse, drugs or alcohol. "It was only through the grace of God that I didn’t get pregnant again," she said.
In 1993, she felt called to tell her story. She now speaks every chance she gets. The healing process has been amazing. Her Catholic faith is now her most precious gift.
"Grace extends through the healed person and extends beyond to others around," Kim said. "The circle of impact can be great. You can’t always see it."
Kim is now married and expecting the birth of her first child.
Where to Get Help
Women in the Arlington Diocese suffering from the aftermath of abortion can receive counseling help by calling the Project Rachel office at 703-276-0373 or by contacting the new web site location at: http://multimaxx.com/project-rachel. All phone calls or e-mails remain strictly confidential.
For those women who find themselves pregnant and alone, there are crisis pregnancy services available as well. A Woman’s Choice is located at 6201 Leesburg Pike, #220, Falls Church, Va. 22044, or call 703-538-4305. A-A-A Women for Choice is located at 9380-A Forestwood Lane, Manassas, Va. 22110, or call 703-330-9312. Adoption services are available through Catholic Charities of the Arlington Diocese. Call 703-425-0100.
"After the Abortion," a conference on post-abortion trauma, reconciliation
and healing will be held Oct. 30 from 9:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Catholic
University’s Law School Auditorium. Vicki Thorn, director of the National
Office of Post-Abortion Reconciliation and Healing, will be the
main presenter.
Copyright ©1999 Arlington Catholic Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
This article was published in the Arlington
Catholic Herald,
200 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 607, Arlington, VA 22203; Vol 24, No 41,
page 4, dated October 14, 1999.
.
E-mail:
letters@catholicherald.com
Fax: 703/524-2782;
Editorial: 703/841-2590;
Advertising: 703/841-2594;
Circulation: 703/841-2565
A note from the Web Master:
It is noteworthy and honorable that some folks are willing to stand up for a ban on Partial-Birth Abortion. Let us not forget that ordinary everyday run of the mill abortion is also murder. We must understand that aborting the life of a baby is murder no matter the method. Because one method of abortion seems to be horrible does not make the other methods less so. We should be horrified and sickened by any abortion regardless of the method. The Fifth Commandment spells it out clearly:
"Thou shalt not kill."
A fetus is a person, a human being with a God given soul.
Imagine the pain the Lord must feel when any abortion occurs. Please
contact both of your Senators and Representative, via letter or phone,
to let them know how horrified you are that abortions are legal and to
stop, once and for all, Partial-Birth abortions and all other abortions
as soon as possible.
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