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Just because we don’t talk about it, doesn’t mean that abortion isn’t something that affects Christian women.
One in three women will have an abortion by the time they are 45 according to national statistics. That means that there are inevitably women in church who will have had an abortion – and it isn’t just something that happens before they came to faith.
“There are many, many women sitting in churches who’ve had abortions, but just feel it’s absolutely the last place they can talk about it,” says Jenny Baines, who has worked with women facing unplanned pregnancies and seeking post-abortion counselling for more than 20 years.
Now she’s turning her attention to the Church, where abortion is a ‘silent issue’ that goes undiscussed and undealt with.
The Church’s traditional emphasis on protecting the unborn child, as well as the language used by some pro-life campaigners, can often alienate women for whom it is a difficult issue. In response to the need she sees in the Church, Baines, together with CARE, is launching Open.
It’s a resource that’s currently being developed to equip churches and church leaders to engage with this issue theologically, and she is currently travelling around the UK speaking at different churches and events.
But it’s also seeking to help support women in the Church who have had an abortion.
A journey of grace
Baines describes her own story as a “journey of grace”. Having initially taken a “militant” pro-life stance, her own experiences of loss and grief – including her husband Derek’s death eight years ago – have given her a greater appreciation for the challenges that others face.
She says she hadn’t thought much about abortion until she was in hospital with her second miscarriage of three. At the time, women who had miscarriages were put in the same hospital ward as those who were having abortions. Continue reading
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