Date
11-17-2023
Department
School of Behavioral Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)
Chair
Pamela Moore
Keywords
Post-abortion symptoms, post-abortion stress, post-abortion Bible study, moral injury, self-forgiveness, depression, spiritual interventions, complicated grief, perinatal loss
Disciplines
Counseling
Recommended Citation
Hubbard, Karen Haaland, "Effectiveness of Post-Abortion Bible Studies on Self-Forgiveness and Depression" (2023). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 4919.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/4919
Abstract
Pro-choice and pro-life perspectives differ regarding adverse emotional symptoms after abortion. Pro-choice researchers maintain that abortion presents no more risk of emotional distress than carrying an unplanned pregnancy to term. However, pro-life researchers discuss evidence that abortion does increase the risk of adverse emotional symptoms that persist long after the abortion. Since many women seek faith-based interventions, the purpose of the current study was to examine the effectiveness of the post-abortion Bible study, Forgiven and Set Free by Linda Cochrane, in decreasing depression and increasing self-forgiveness. The first research question was, “Does participation in a post-abortion Bible study increase post-abortive women’s self-forgiveness?” The second research question was, “Does participation in a post-abortion Bible study decrease post-abortive women’s depression?” Because of the small sample size of three, a post-hoc case study of the study methodology provided insights for researching the post-abortive vulnerable population and working with gatekeeping providers of post-abortion Bible study groups. The post-hoc case study highlighted the small sample size typical in this study on post-abortion Bibles to research studies of other vulnerable populations. In addition, the post-hoc case study explored the difficulties and benefits of collaborating with post-abortion Bible study facilitators functioning as gatekeepers when researching post-abortion healing and the importance of ongoing trust-building among Bible study facilitators to enhance access to the individuals taking post-abortion Bible studies.
