Abortion workers suffer emotionally: ‘You see arms and legs torn off’

Abortion is so inherently and totally destructive that it takes an emotional toll on everyone involved. Even those who participate in the abortion industry are affected.

British psychologist Mary Mullany describes how it’s not just the women coming in for abortions that experience emotional trauma. The abortion workers have psychological problems as well:

Prostaglandin abortions are late-term abortions usually done in the second trimester. In this type of abortion, the drug prostaglandin is administered to the pregnant woman, causing her to go into labor and deliver a baby too young to survive. Sometimes these babies are born alive. Some practitioners may inject digoxin or another feticide into the baby before delivery to minimize the risk of a live birth. Former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino explains the process of an induction abortion in the video below:

3rd Trimester Induction Abortion: Injection and Stillbirth

Prostaglandin abortions are difficult because the woman must endure labor. It falls to the nurses to dispose of the bodies of babies aborted this way. The mother may see her aborted child if she delivers and the nurses don’t take the baby away in time. It can be a very disturbing experience for everyone involved.

Other abortion workers have talked about the emotional difficulty of dealing with late-term abortions. One nurse who assists with these abortions said:

This former Christian has pangs of conscience about what she is doing. The abortionist was able to convince her that committing abortions is “the best in difficult circumstances.” Obviously, a woman who comes in with an unplanned pregnancy is in difficult circumstances. But aborting her baby does not improve her life or bring her conflict to a good resolution. Further, abortion is not medicine — it is killing.

Aside from the physical complications an abortion can cause,  there can be psychological complications. According to two studies based on medical records, women who have abortions are 6 to 7 times more likely to commit suicide than women who have never aborted. Teenagers are even more vulnerable – the rate of teen suicide after abortion is 10 times greater than normal. These studies covered only the first six months after the abortion, before the anniversary of the abortion and often before the expected due date — two dates that can trigger emotional distress in post-abortive women. So the rate may be even higher.

Abortion does not help women; it harms them. And it certainly doesn’t help babies.

Former abortion worker Annette Lancaster says that mental breakdowns among staff were common in the facility where she worked:

Another former abortion worker still has emotional scars from her time in the abortion industry. Even though this worker has been out of the industry for many years, she still suffers trauma. After witnessing an abortion on television, this worker was overcome with guilt:

It may be hard to find a therapist who understands the psychological needs of former abortion workers. Fortunately, today, there is a place where former workers can go for emotional support and healing. And Then There Were None,  founded by former abortion worker Abby Johnson, provides healing retreats and emotional support to former abortion workers.

Researchers have also commented on how abortion causes emotional distress in people who assist or commit them. One author who interviewed abortionists and abortion workers for a book she was writing made the observation that:

An article in the Journal of Medical Ethics describes how abortions negatively affect abortionists, especially when they are done by dismemberment:

Some abortionists have also mentioned how emotionally difficult committing abortions can be. One Planned Parenthood abortionist said:

I do not know what happened to this abortionist after the interview. I hope that his conscience led him out of the industry that dehumanizes women and kills children. As human beings, they are affected by this work. Their emotional suffering does not make their involvement with abortion acceptable, but it does reveal that these are hurting people.

The daughter of one abortionist said, “It’s sort of sad, that society has forced him into this. He seems like a sadder person now than when his practice was delivering a lot of babies.” Of course, no one is forcing abortionists to commit abortions. But it is profitable, as one abortionist explained.

Other doctors may be motivated more by a misguided sense of altruism than by money. They may really believe that they are helping women. They may have seen or known about women who were injured or killed by illegal abortions (although the number of women killed in the past by illegal abortion is much lower than pro-abortion groups claim). Other abortionists may truly believe that they are improving women’s lives. These motives do not justify what they do, but they can help explain what motivates them so that pro-lifers know how to reach them.

There is another possibility as to why abortion workers get involved in the industry and stay even though they suffer emotional trauma. In an episode of the show Catholic Answers, host Patrick Coffin interviewed former abortion worker Catherine Adair. At one point in the interview, Coffin said:

Adair answered, “Absolutely. I think there’s a tremendous amount of pain behind those clinic doors, both for the women going in there and for the women working there.”

Some workers struggle emotionally with the burden of helping with abortions. Some have nightmares. Former worker Jewels Green described seeing the bodies of aborted babies in the first trimester:

She then described the nightmares she started having:

In her testimony, Jewels Green explained that her reason for getting involved in the abortion industry was her guilt over her own abortion. Surrounding herself with people who supported abortion eased her conscience. Every time another woman chose abortion, Green felt that her own choice was validated.

Abortion worker Sally Tisdale also described having nightmares. While she was still employed at the abortion facility, Tisdale said:

When reaching out to abortion workers, it is good to keep in mind that many of them are hurting from their own abortions and from their work at these facilities. It’s true that some people manage to harden their hearts to the point where they are indifferent to all kinds of human suffering. There are likely some abortion workers who feel absolutely nothing as they look through the remains of aborted babies. But being involved in the abortion industry takes a toll on people who still have a conscience. In trying to bring abortion workers out of the industry, we are doing something good for them as well as for preborn babies.