Father Vincent Heffernan, a priest with the Scarboro Foreign Mission Society is attempting to establish self-help groups for women suffering pain following abortion.
In an interview with Vitality, Father Heffernan, who has spent eleven years as a missionary in Guyana and Mexico, spoke of the achievements of groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous, whose members help themselves and one another by sharing their pain, secure in the knowledge that their privacy and dignity will be respected.
Recognizing the need to progress through every stage of grief before moving on to recovery, Father Heffernan said that women suffering from the specific pain following abortion should be able to relate to their peers, knowing that those listening are personally aware of their suffering because of experience, rather than arriving at the knowledge merely by reading books on the subject. Women interested in assisting in the formation of such a group or those who simply need counseling, should feel free to contact Father Heffernan, confident that all enquiries will be handled with the utmost confidentiality.
