22 Sep Summit of Grace
Dear Friends,
For those of you who may have missed the last email (which you can find here), this month will be heavier than usual on the emails. That’s because we have so many great pro-life opportunities to share with you, and we don’t want you to miss out. We thank you for your patience and hope you find these resources useful.
Post-Abortion Healing
Abortion-related trauma is one of the greatest unsung tragedies of our generation. As more and more research emerges on the matter, we get a clearer picture of just how deep the wounds can go. The good news is, this also helps us better diagnose the trauma that afflicts so many and help them find the healing and forgiveness they need.
Kay Lyn Carlson from Choose Grace International elaborates below on an exciting free event coming up which addresses this need:
“PLEASE! WE NEED GRASSROOTS HELP IN SPREADING THE WORD ABOUT OUR FREE UPCOMING 3-DAY LIVE ONLINE EVENT HAPPENING IN 10 DAYS!
Why is this critically important? I believe (as do others) that the term MORAL INJURY found in combat veterans is the missing link that will help others grasp how women and men are harmed by abortion—putting a name to what we already know. Like Dr. Vincent Rue’s PAS parallel to PTSD, so too is Moral Injury – Abortion (MI-A) to Moral Injury – Military (MI-M).
How did this come about? With secular PTSD treatments, military personnel were still committing suicide at an alarming rate – quite simply because mental health professionals were not getting to the core issue – killing, going against their conscience, moral values/moral compass, and beliefs. The term was first coined by Johnathan Shay based on the two books Iliad and the Odyssey. Here is his definition:
Shay, J. (2014). Moral injury. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 31(2), 182–191. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036090
The term moral injury has recently begun to circulate in the literature on psychological trauma. It has been used in two related, but distinct, senses; differing mainly in the “who” of moral agency. Moral injury is present when there has been (a) a betrayal of “what’s right”; (b) either by a person in legitimate authority (my definition), or by one’s self—“I did it” (Litz, Maguen, Nash, et al.); (c) in a high stakes situation. Both forms of moral injury impair the capacity for trust and elevate despair, suicidality, and interpersonal violence.
The same is true with abortion. Scholars on moral injury, like Dr. Harold Koenig, have confirmed that they no-doubt see the MI-A and MI-M correlation, and we have interviewed him for this Summit. He also talks about a 70-year-old client who is still haunted by the fact that he talked his wife into getting an abortion.
HOW WILL THIS HELP? This new syndrome can have an incredible impact on how society understands the issues and harm of abortion. When referring to abortion harm, we now have a conceptual framework to use and research within the social sciences. And, since moral injury impacts the entire being (bio/psycho/social/spiritual), it will become more difficult to refute.
Moreover, I know how impacted I was when I read Vince Rue’s PAS assessment and said, “that’s it, that’s me!” How comforting it was to have someone understand me. The same is true when I share about The Moral Injury of Abortion, and people’s faces light up, and they get it.
Dr. Harold Koenig has gone one step further and created a 10-dimensional moral injury symptom scale that includes the spiritual issues surrounding a moral injury. Each of these 10 dimensions will be addressed as well as the 10 Treatment Modules used in healing.
WHO IS THIS EVENT FOR?
This event is for EVERYONE! Any individual who has been harmed by abortion, directly or indirectly, will be greatly resourced with educational, healing material through this event. The Moral Injury of Abortion will give insight to any clinician, social worker, pastor, ministry leader or other individual who cares to understand the complexities of what people may go through following an abortion experience.
BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP!
The event is September 25th, 26th, and 27th; that Choose Grace is hosting. It’s a completely free online event, where worldwide people can learn about The Moral Injury of Abortion, be educated, and take steps towards healing.
I have interviewed nearly 50 people – from clergy, pastors, M.D.’s, psychiatrists, social workers, marriage and family therapists, to personal stories, and more – all related to The Moral Injury of Abortion AND Moral Injury Abortion Prevention. We have also included topics on Abortion and Breast Cancer, RU486, Human Trafficking, and Phill Kline will be sharing his story while serving as the Kansas Attorney General.
But time is running out! We are a small staff with limited funds and big dreams!
Would you please share this event with your professional audiences as well as friends, communities, and churches to better understand abortion wounding and healing?
Our event website is here: summitofgrace.com.
Here is a video that can also be shared: https://vimeo.com/453074471/028cf161f0
Please help our grassroots effort in getting this holistic education and a very hope-filled healing event out to the masses. We know a free event like this is desperately needed, and your help will be a blessing to those in need.
Thank you!”
Kay Lyn Carlson
President, Choose Grace International
We at Human Life of Washington are gratified to forward this opportunity on to you, and hope that it will bring much healing throughout the Washington community and beyond! Thank you for helping us spread the word about this critical mission!
Stay safe and stay healthy, Washingtonians!
For Life,
Michael Dumais
Outreach Coordinator
Human Life of Washington
253-517-7733 x204