People who've dealt with abortion, any advice on how to support a friend who just went through it?

Nothing heals the pain but time. She's going to feel guilty every day, every time babies are brought up in conversation, every time she gets her period, every time she sees a diaper commercial, every time she looks in the mirror. You can't avoid it, but you can learn to accept it. The first year is the hardest, especially when the due date of when they would have been born passes. Every year after that it gets easier. Slowly you move from being guilty every day to guilty every week. It's been 8 years since mine and I've had enough time to reflect and observe the path my life took because I got one. Now I know that I made the best possible decision for myself at the time given my situation and the amount of information I had. If I were to go back in time I would have done the same thing. Once she realizes that she will finally be able to heal. In the mean time all you can do is be her shoulder to cry on, and remind her that she is not an awful person. She is a strong person who was given an impossible choice to make. I didn't see a therapist and internalized my pain. In hindsight that was a mistake. Encourage her to talk to a professional, or assist her with finding someone affordable to talk to. While I'm sure you're a great support, its freeing to talk to someone with no context of which you are and knows exactly what to say to say. Every action I've taken since mine has been to better myself and advance myself so that if I do decide to be a parent, I will be the best parent I can be. But it took time.

/r/TheGirlSurvivalGuide Thread