Unfortunately, abortion and abuse often go hand-in-hand.

This was the case for Dawn Scott Damon. Her story starts as a child where she lost her innocence to abuse. Later in life she chose to get an abortion, and both of these life events had lasting effects on her.

Through God’s love she has overcome, and she shares with advice for all who are seeking healing after an abortion.

Where do we start when we’re in need of recovery and healing?

We need to first get out of the secret place that we’ve been hiding and share our story.

“So often we don’t even tell ourselves the truth; we keep it buried, we deny it, we push it away. Those things that we lock away in the basement of our soul, they do push their way up, and that inner-child, that innocence is grieving, that hurting, needs to be validated.”

“Love needs to be heard and understood. So if you’ve not ever shared it with anyone, the beginning place is to begin to talk about it and share it.”

Not sure who to talk to?

Start with someone you can trust and be open with, a close family member or friend.. Pastors can also be a wonderful resource of love and support.

If no one comes to mind, or if you feel like it’d be a safer place to start, seek out a counselor to speak with.

The important thing is to share your story.

Then, as you tell that story, find a place where you can grieve for yourself and for the losses you’ve experienced.

“You know, Kim, we’ve had many losses. If you’ve been abused as a child, you lost your freedom of a childhood, the innocence of a child, you lost trust… You had many things stolen from you. Some, many women struggle with sexual intimacy for the rest of their lives. There’s a struggle with panic attacks and anxiety and the root goes back to being a child who felt hopeless and helpless.”

When we begin to share our story and then grieve for ourselves, we find ourselves on the path of healing.

Dawn leaves us with this final bit of advice:

“Do yourself a favor, love yourself enough. Say ‘I’m strong enough today, I can deal with it today. God’s with me, I can look at the truth, and when I look at the truth I’ll be set free.’”

Highlight: Overcoming abuse and abortion

Podcast: Overcoming abuse and abortion