There are many personal stories of individuals who, although hurting from involvement in abortion, are experiencing healing and hope as they reconcile with themselves, their Church, and their God. Here are just a couple of those stories:

"Project Rachel is a ministry of caring people who understand the pain an abortion causes a woman. I spent years denying anything was wrong, even though my behavior indicated otherwise. Though I had been in counseling before, never was the abortion experience brought forth as a root cause of my dysfunctional behavior. I mentioned it several times, but it was brushed aside. Anger, lashing out at others, blaming, emotional highs and depression, and cover-ups such as a drinking problem helped me stay trapped in a joyless life. Project Rachel, with its sensitivity to the aborted woman, allowed me to trust again. This trust opened up my closed heart as I shared my story with caring people. These people did not allow me to deny any longer that my actions were justified, but a wrong that could be forgiven. Through professional counseling with a Project Rachel therapist, I was able to start a healing process of grieving, letting go of shame, forgiveness for all involved, and most importantly, giving personhood to my unborn baby. I followed through as a participant in "Our Healing Journey," a support group that allowed me to share with other post-abortive women. This provided a safe place for nurturing me into the person I had left behind at the abortion clinic that Spring day in 1977. What I lost that day could only be renewed through a process that joined both the emotional and spiritual parts of me. The healing was separate, then combined to create a wholeness. Project Rachel provided this unity. Through God's love, I have been gifted with a Faith beyond my expectations. Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, reception of the Holy Eucharist and devotion to the Blessed Mother, the Catholic Church has brought me to a place of love." - Paula

"More than two decades ago, my girlfriend (now my wife) and I faced the most important decision of our lives. Unfortunately, we were too young and immature to realize the magnitude of the decision we were about to make. She was pregnant, and we wanted to avoid the embarrassment and scandal of an out-of-wed- lock pregnancy. Abortion had recently become legal, which helped us justify our decision. After all, it couldn't be so bad if it was legal. We made a choice, the wrong choice. I'll never forget the haunting words when she said afterwards..."It was a girl!" I cry to this day when I think about it, and I think about it almost daily. She'd be twenty-four now, a bright young woman with a promising future. Although I never got the chance to meet her, or hold her, I still miss her. It's as though there's a huge void in my life, a child that should be here, but isn't. This void means that part of my life will always be empty. My only source of comfort is the knowledge that she, along with millions of others, is with the Lord in Heaven. Further, I recently came to realize that the sometimes severe anger I unload on my wife and children is at least in part due to strong guilt feelings related back to the abortion. The anger toward my wife, I believe, stems from her role in killing my child. The anger toward my children is related to my feeling that I don't deserve to be loved by my children, since I killed one of them. Therefore, I have spent much of their lives driving them from me. Having just learned this, I pray there is still time to reverse it's effect. Abortion is not birth control! It is, in fact, the killing of an innocent child. It has had a devastating effect on my family for more than twenty years. My appeal is to those who, like my girlfriend and I, are teetering between abortion and life. Make the only choice you'll be able to live with ... choose life! I wish we had every day." - A Father

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