A lot of evangelicals oppose abortion because getting rid of an unborn child is a big sin.
However, a new survey conducted by the Christian research group LifeWay found out that around 70 percent of women who had undergone abortion were actually self-identified Christians.
Moreover, around 43 percent of them claimed to be frequent churchgoers since they attended Christian church services at least once per month or more during the time they had an abortion.
Because Christians normally frown upon abortion, around 52 percent kept their abortions a secret from church members. Only seven percent from that number discussed their abortion with someone from the church, while76 percent of them said the church had no influence on their decision to get an abortion.
The survey interviewed 1,038 respondents who underwent abortions. It found out that 20 percent of the respondents attended church at least once a week during their pregnancy termination, while six percent attended church more than once per week. Meanwhile, 54 percent said they rarely or never attended church.
Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life organisation, told The Christian Post that the survey actually does not reflect badly on the church.
"I'm not surprised (about it) but I don't think that necessarily reflects anything bad about churches," she said. "That would be fantastic if she went to a church member, but the reality is that they know often that they are not doing what's right, so they are not going to go (to someone) who is an expert on morality to find that out. They want somebody to tell them that it's okay and they are not going to hear that from a church, at least not most churches."
The same survey revealed that around 64 percent of the women suspect that church members will gossip about their pregnancy or abortion consideration rather than help them through their ordeal.
Around 36 percent also said they expected or experienced judgmental reaction from a church member, while 26 percent confirmed that they experienced condemnation from their congregation.
Only 16 percent of the respondents said they expected or experienced a "caring" reaction from the church, while 14 percent said they expected or experienced a helpful reaction.
