September: It’s a Family Affair
September provides an excellent opportunity to build ecumenical partnerships with the Catholic Church as it celebrates the World Meeting of Families in September with special events in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia including a visit from Pope Francis. The Campaign thus far has focused on abortion’s impact on the parents, grandparents, siblings, extended family, and others who were intimately involved in many abortion decisions and procedures. September provides an opportunity to pull it all together and take a closer look at abortion’s impact on family life:
- Secrets surrounding the abortion are damaging, foster mistrust between family members, and prevent those hurting from seeking healing.
- Abortion can fracture family relationships and at the very least it is that very large elephant in the room no one can acknowledge. Yet the symptoms continue to be expressed by a grandmother’s sleep disturbance; a grandfather’s need for anxiety medication; a daughter struggling with addiction; or a son with anger issues and affairs plaguing his marriage. Education and testimonies this month will have a special emphasis on how abortion contributes to dysfunctional and unhealthy patterns of communication and difficulty with trust and intimacy – key components in any healthy marriage and family life.
- When parents are weakened emotionally, spiritually and relationally, how are the children impacted? When we look across our nation and see the epidemic of single- parent families, failed marriages and over-medicated children in problem schools…we have to factor in the abortion connection as a contributor.
- Just as healing can restore the emotional and spiritual health of the inpidual, so it can be an important factor in developing more intimate and satisfying marriage and family relationships. We know that the welfare of children and a stable healthy parental presence in the home are closely connected. The month of September will feature testimonies and interviews with families impacted by abortion who found reconciliation and healing.
Acknowledging abortion loss can provide an avenue for deep emotional and spiritual healing that can serve as the framework to build on and address other important issues that will strengthen families. Encouraging family healing benefits both society and the Church.