Forgiven and Set Free: Healing After Abortion at LaVie Health
When most people think about the mission of LaVie Health, they think first, and rightly so, about unborn babies whose lives are protected and futures preserved. But the story doesn’t end there.
There is another quiet, sacred work happening at LaVie, one that reaches far beyond a pregnancy test or ultrasound room. It is the work of healing women (and now men) who carry the invisible weight of abortion long after the procedure is over.
For many, that weight has been carried for decades.
The Suffering No One Sees
Research and lived experience tell the same story: abortion doesn’t simply end a pregnancy, it often begins years, even a lifetime, of silent suffering. Shame, unresolved grief, anger, depression, anxiety, relational struggles, and spiritual numbness can linger long after the moment everyone else assumes is “over.”
Most women who attend LaVie’s post-abortion support class have not had just one abortion. Many have had multiple. And almost none arrive because the pain is fresh.
They come because 10… 20… 30 years later, they are tired.
Tired of pretending they are fine.
Tired of carrying shame they don’t know how to name.
Tired of trying, consciously or unconsciously, to “make up for” a choice they can’t undo.
Their suffering is often invisible to everyone else, but not to God.
A Brave First Step: Public Confession
LaVie offers an 8-week, faith-based class called Forgiven and Set Free. Simply showing up is one of the hardest steps these women will ever take. Public confession, walking into a room and admitting, even silently, “I had an abortion” is terrifying. Many participants fear what they will be labeled, how they will be judged, or whether they will be rejected once the truth is known.
What they discover instead is something very different.
This is not a room full of condemnation. It is not a room full of people shaking their heads in anger. These women were not told the truth when they chose abortion. But now, in a safe and loving environment, they are able to face the truth with support, compassion, and the gospel at the center.
They are known. They are understood. And they are not alone.
The Weight of Anger and the Freedom of Release
As part of the Forgiven and Set Free curriculum, women are invited to carefully and prayerfully examine the anger they have been carrying often for years.
Sometimes that anger is directed inward: anger at themselves for believing lies or feeling they should have known better. Sometimes it is aimed outward at people who pressured them, abandoned them, or failed to protect them. Many women carry anger toward medical professionals who told them they were simply removing unwanted tissue, never acknowledging the life that was lost. Whatever its source, this anger is heavy, painful, and destructive when left unaddressed.
During one exercise, each woman is asked to take a small ziplock bag and choose stones from a jar—one for each person or situation toward which she feels anger. They are then instructed to carry that bag with them throughout the week, tucked into a pocket or purse, intentionally feeling the physical weight of what they have been holding in their hearts.
One evening after this activity, after all the women had left and the room was being reset, something unexpected appeared. Resting on the couch was a small, beautiful piece of blue sea-glass, catching the light. One of the women had already left a piece of her anger behind.
It was a quiet, holy moment and a living picture of what happens in this group. Together, the women work to understand and then release the shame, anger, pain, and grief that resulted from their abortion experiences. Jesus, the Great Healer, gently invites them to lay these burdens down and trust Him with what they can no longer carry.
The Gospel Where “Making It Right” Fails
Many women who have had abortions spend their lives trying to atone for their choice by serving more, giving more, sacrificing more…hoping somehow to balance the scales.
But the gospel offers something radically different.
There is no way to make it right.
And that is precisely why grace is so powerful.
Through Christ, what cannot be undone can be forgiven. What cannot be fixed can be covered. Shame does not have the final word.
They are forgiven.
They are set free.
Honoring Life Through Grief
At the conclusion of the class, LaVie holds a memorial for the babies who were lost. For many participants, this is the first time they are allowed to emotionally, spiritually, and communally grieve.
They name their babies.
Candles are created in their honor.
A pastor leads a memorial ceremony.
They share a meal together.
This moment matters deeply. Grief that has been suppressed for years is finally acknowledged. Life is honored. Tears are welcomed. Healing takes root.
The process is soaked in the gospel from confession to forgiveness to remembrance and hope.
Healing That Multiplies
One of the most beautiful aspects of Forgiven and Set Free is what happens next.
Women who have walked through the class are invited to return not as participants, but as helpers. Under Virginia’s mentorship, they walk alongside others who are beginning the same journey. In doing so, they experience even deeper healing themselves.
This is discipleship by God’s design: He often works in us as He works through us.
What began as personal healing becomes multiplied impact.
The Eternal Impact of Your Support
Because of donors like you, LaVie Health is not only saving lives, but partnering with the Lord to restore souls.
Your generosity creates space for women and men to step out of decades-long shame and into freedom. It funds safe rooms, trained leaders, biblical counseling, and sacred moments where grief is finally allowed and grace is fully received.
The impact of Forgiven and Set Free reaches beyond this lifetime.
This is eternal work.
Thank you for standing with LaVie—not only for unborn babies, but for their mamas, too.
