A pregnant woman called the ARIN CARE Line one evening at 11:30pm. She had found our website on the Internet and was calling to schedule her first abortion recovery counseling appointment. Oddly enough, she had not yet ended her pregnancy. She was scheduled for an abortion the next day! My skin got goose bumps when she said....
"I know I'm going to need some help. After the procedure tomorrow, I'll be one of 'those people!'"
I lovingly explained to her, that I too was one of those people! That actually there were quite a few of us! It seemed to bring her comfort when I summarized just who we ALL were....
Those People...
Those people, I explained, are the women, men, siblings, grandparents, and extended family who have chosen an abortion in the past, or been associated with someone who has. Those people are your neighbors down the street, your pastor or his wife, your nephew's teacher, or your son's coach. Those people are your daughter's best friend, your work-out buddy at the gym, your grandmother or friend from school. You're eating lunch with those people at work, studying the Bible with them at church, watching them on TV, listening to them on a CD, or seeing them run for public office. They are those whom you'd never predict would make a choice like abortion.
Those people are individuals who chose abortion when it was legal, or when it was illegal. Either way, those people were deceived into thinking it was the ONLY way out of an unplanned or medically challenged pregnancy. Then realizing, it was too late! Those people ARE EVERYWHERE! And they are suffering in silence around the world! WHY? Because they are too ashamed and too frightened that they will be classified as "those people" when they ask or search for help. I thanked her for being so brave as to make the call. She thanked me for being available to her without judgement and with a compassionate heart.
We Need to Look Within...
When people, affected by abortion, have physical or spiritual complication we often don't know how to reach out to them as a society, church, pregnancy center or even as a friend or family member. Unfortunately, those who made a "poor choice," don't often know what to do themselves when their world seems to be crashing down around them. ONE abortion, through a rippling effect, can touch as many as 40 people throughout a lifetime. Some of those effected may choose to do nothing, stuck in denial for years! Others may take a courageous step and seek outside help!
What do we do with those women and men who've chosen to terminate a pregnancy? How do we treat them? Do we grant them complete compassion or quietly scold them with contempt? So we lash out in passive aggressive anger? Or reach out in Christ-centered love? Do we grieve with them differently than a family who mourns a child lost to miscarriage or stillbirth? Hummmm, something we should think about...
Do our volunteers and sidewalk counselors TRULY know how to speak to the client who has an abortion in their past? Are our websites friendly to those clients? Or does our internet presence create additional triggers and sensitivities that would further push those hurting away? Have all of our staff, who have experienced an abortion (directly or indirectly), completed an abortion recovery program? Do we promote a "recovery first" position?
Let's work together to make it easier and more acceptable for people to get the healing they need. Let's make it safe to talk with them at school, at church, at home and even within our families. Okay.. but HOW Stacy?
We can start by making sure our physical buildings and web presence is a gift to those who ache from a past choice. WE can be the one person who opens our arms, our hearts and our centers to welcoming those people who just might need our unconditional acceptance. We, at ARIN, wish to help! Our goal for 2013 is to have every church, ministry and pregnancy center reaching out to individuals and families impacted by a previous choice.
Abortion Recovery InterNational (ARIN) has been honored to partner with hundreds of pro-life Christian ministries over the past 10 years. Over 400 websites refer to our online CARE Directory for after abortion assistance: http://abortionrecovery.org
Our Affiliates (peer, pastor and professional counselors) minister to approximately 40,000 post-abortion clients each year. Many journey through a recovery program and then go on to receive further healing through our Recovery Encore brochure and website:
http://recoveryencore.org
With the upcoming 40th anniversary of Roe versus Wade... we expect the number of those affected by abortion will greatly increase. We need everyone's help to care for those wounded. We highly encourage everyone providing after abortion support to be linked in with our agency. We'd love to send abortion effected clients your way. If you are not yet an ARIN Affiliate, or need to renew your membership for 2013... here's the information link: http://joinarin.org
Whether you have an active abortion recovery program, need some help bringing yours up-to-speed or are prayerfully considering starting one; we are more than happy to help get YOUR program and center ready for ready for the individuals and families impacted by abortion. Phone consultations, center walkthrough, literature and web reviews are all something we enjoy doing to help pregnancy centers, medical clinics and other counseling agencies open their doors, and hearts, to the client who's abortion affected.
"Abortion Recovering International, Inc, has been a HUGE help in getting our abortion recovery program and website up and running. ARIN helped us see that there were women seeking help but our approach and website was not "welcoming" to them. ARIN offered a lot of valuable information as well as their time to help us know what direction to go. I am so glad we decided to renew our membership!" ~ Melissa Howard, Sound Recovery, GA
Our goal is for those people impacted by abortion is to find personal peace for their heart, mind, soul and spirit. We'd love to help YOU reach out compassionately to those hurting in your community!
One of "Those People" ... Divinely Forgiven!
Stacy Massey
President / Founding Partner
