AfterCHOICE focuses on Abortion and Domestic Violence

     The IRMA Network's 2009 AfterCHOICE Symposium will focus on the connection between violence in the womb and violence in the home, with Dr. David Reardon as our featured speaker. This year's symposium will be presented on Saturday, November 14th, 2009, at 210 Cafe`, located in Downtown Visalia, from 8am - 3pm.

 

     David C. Reardon, Ph.D., is a biomedical ethicist and an internationally known author, speaker, and researcher on post-abortion issues since 1983. His first book, Aborted Women, Silent No More, was published in 1987. He is now recognized as one of the leading experts in the field of post-abortion research, and for the development of outreach efforts to promote post-abortion healing.

     "Violence begets violence," says Dr. Reardon. "Certainly, not every abortion leads to domestic violence, nor is every case of domestic violence rooted in the trauma of a prior abortion, but it is not a coincidence that the rates of abortion and domestic violence have risen together during the last twenty-five years. The evidence supporting a correlation between abortion and violence between women and men, at least for some couples, is so compelling that it is beyond dispute.

    In an Elliot Institute study of 260 women, 53 percent stated that after their abortion, "I started losing my temper more easily," and 48 percent stated, "I became more violent when angered." Self-hatred, hatred of the male, and hatred of men in general, were all significantly correlated to each other.

    This constellation of problems -- an increased tendency toward violence, emotional detachment, and self-destructive behaviors -- would appear to be exacerbated by the study group's dramatically increased rate of drug and alcohol abuse subsequent to abortion.

    Agencies, pastors, marriage/family/recovery counselors, and concerned community leaders are invited to join us for this revealing exploration into the connection between abortion and domestic violence. For more information, email Ruthann@theIRMAnetwork.org or call 732-5000.