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(The following is excerpted from "Healing the Wounds", a
publication of the Office of Family Life of the Diocese of Orange.)
Project Rachel was founded in 1984 by Vicki Thorn and is now in over half
of the dioceses in the USA. Project Rachel started in the Diocese of
Orange in 1990.
The mission of Project Rachel is to share the good news of hope, healing
and reconciliation with anyone affected by abortion so that all may live
fully as children of God. Project Rachel was named after the Old
Testament woman who mourned the loss of her children.
Project Rachel offers a 24 hour, toll free hotline (1-800-RACHEL6) to
assist callers with a confidential referral of their choice to either a
specially trained clergy person or counselors to help with feelings of
guilt associated with an abortion. Project Rachel can also provide a
priest to help the person prepare for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
This service is free and open to anyone in need, regardless of faith
background. If extended counseling is needed, persons can be
referred to professional counselors with fees based on ability to pay.
Project Rachel is needed because abortion spiritually injures women as
follows:
* For many women, abortion is the first experience of a serious perceived
sin.
* She realizes she has victimized an innocent being.
* Abortion is an unacknowledged death experience since there is no
funeral.
* She may feel unwelcome in the Church.
* She fears God and His punishment.
That women go through an emotional guilt trip following an abortion is
evidenced by a statement of Dr. Julius Fogel, an obstetrician,
gynecologist and psychiatrist who performed over 20,000 abortions.
He said, "There is no question about the emotional grief and mourning
following an abortion. It shows up in various forms..some women are
just mute, some hostile...some burst out crying. There is no
question in my mind that we are disturbing a life process. Every
woman has a trauma at destroying a pregnancy...she is destroying herself.
There is no way it can be harmless ... I know that as a
psychiatrist."
If you or anyone you know is suffering from the aftermath of abortion,
call Project Rachel. It allows anyone wounded by abortion to move toward
reconciliation with themselves, their unborn child, their family, their
church, and their God.
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