A couple of years ago, researcher Christina Lynch worked with a number of Rachel's Vineyard local retreat sites to gain a better understanding of women who are seeking help after an abortion.

An article based on her research, The Secret Life of Post-Abortive Mothers and How We Can Help Them, appears in the current edition of Celebrate Life.

There are a lot of interesting statistics in the article. Two that jumped out at me is that only about 25% of the women attending the retreat had told their husband about their experience with abortion! That really surprised me.

Another interesting statistic is that about 25% of those attending the retreat held pro-choice convictions.

These research results are based on surveys distributed at retreats. My retreat site participated in the study. We were asked to distribute the surveys to the retreat participants when they arrived at the retreat, and to have them finish filling it out (as well as sealing it into a serious security envelope) prior to the start of their participation in the retreat.