Rachel's Vineyard
Rachel's Vineyard is an American organization offering weekend retreats for women who have had abortions and for others, including men, who believe that they have been hurt by abortion.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rycb26MLxDwC&pg=PA23 |title=Abortion, Motherhood, and Mental Health: Medicalizing Reproduction in the United States and Great Britain |author=Ellie Lee |publisher=Transaction Publishers |year=2003 |pages=23–24 |isbn=0202364046 }} It is named after Rachel in the Bible, who weeps "for her lost children".{{cite journal |title=Healing abortion's trauma and 'Rachel's Vineyard Retreat': From three participants |author1=Genevieve, Peter Maher |author2=Thomas Ryan |name-list-style=amp |journal=Australasian Catholic Record |year=2009 |volume=86 |issue=2 |pages=200–211 }}{{cite news |url=http://old.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20020120abortion0120p3.asp |date=20 January 2002 |access-date=27 July 2013 |title=Groups support those who regret abortions |author=Ann Rodgers-Melnick |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette}}
Rachel's Vineyard is funded by Priests for Life{{cite news |url=http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/health/article/Is-post-abortion-syndrome-real-1242400.php |date=1 July 2007 |access-date=27 July 2013 |title=Is post-abortion syndrome real? – Proponents of grief theory add fuel to debate |author=Cherie Black |newspaper=Seattle Post-Intelligencer}} and has a broadly Roman Catholic ethos with a Catholic Mass celebrated as an integral part of the retreat, but also runs non-denominational retreats for non-Catholics.{{cite news|url=http://www.wcwcatholic.com/respecting-life/rachel-s-vineyard|title=Rachel's Vineyard begins to bear fruit in central Wisconsin|author=Joseph O’Brien|date=21 April 2011|newspaper=The Catholic Times, reprinted in the West Central Wisconsin Catholic|access-date=27 July 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.wcr.ab.ca/news/2005/0912/vineyard091205.shtml |date=7 Sep 2005 |access-date=27 July 2013 |title=Rachel's Vineyard offers new retreat for non-Catholics |author=Ramon Gonzalez |publisher=Western Catholic Reporter |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004202928/http://www.wcr.ab.ca/news/2005/0912/vineyard091205.shtml |archive-date=October 4, 2006 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.courant.com/2006/08/13/after-the-abortion-redemption/ |date=13 August 2006 |access-date=27 July 2013 |title=After The Abortion, Redemption |author=Jennifer Warner Cooper |newspaper=Hartford Courant}}
History
In 1996, Theresa Karminski Burke started one of the first therapeutic support groups for women who had had abortions. Later, she founded Rachel’s Vineyard,{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/magazine/21abortion.t.html?pagewanted=all |date=27 January 2007 |access-date=27 July 2013 |title=Is There a Post-Abortion Syndrome? |author=Emily Bazelon |newspaper=The New York Times}} together with her husband, Kevin Burke. Burke's Rachel's Vineyard: A Psychological and Spiritual Journey for Post Abortion Healing (written with Barbara Cullen) was published in 1994 as a support group model for counselors helping women with post abortion grief. Four Rachel's Vineyard retreats were conducted in 1995 and by the end of 2002 over 130 had been held. In 2003, Rachel’s Vineyard was reorganised and became a ministry of Priests for Life, with Frank Pavone as the Pastoral Director.{{cite web |url=http://rachelsvineyard.org/ |access-date=27 July 2013 |title=Website |author=Rachel's Vineyard}} A retreat is generally designed for about a dozen clients and a priest and a licensed therapist are typically present.{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2005/11/04/spiritual-healing-after-abortions/ |date=4 November 2005 |access-date=27 July 2013 |title=Spiritual healing after abortions: A psychologist's retreat for those battling unresolved feelings uses religious guidance |author=Bonnie Miller Rubin |newspaper=Chicago Tribune}}{{cite web |url=http://www.rachelsvineyard.org/PDF/Articles/Post%20Abortion%20Healing%20-%20Theresa%20Burke.pdf |date=5 September 1996 |access-date=27 July 2013 |title=Post-Abortion Healing: Reconciling an Abortion in the Catholic Church |author=Theresa Karminski Burke |publisher=Rachel's Vineyard}}
In June 2002, Burke and David Reardon published a book titled Forbidden Grief, a review of Burke's experience in counseling women for abortion-related emotional problems.{{cite web |url=http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles/JacobseForbiddenGrief.php |date=2003 |access-date=27 July 2013 |title=Women are Abortion's Second Victims (review of Forbidden Grief: The Unspoken Pain of Abortion) |author=Johannes L. Jacobse |publisher=OrthodoxyToday.org}}{{cite web |url=http://www.rachelsvineyard.org/resources/forbidden-grief.htm |access-date=27 July 2013 |title=Forbidden Grief (book information) |author=Rachel's Vineyard}}
In 2003, Bernadette Goulding founded the Irish chapter of Rachel's Vineyard, and in 2011 founded Women Hurt, a similar organisation, with less focus on Catholicism.{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/why-women-shouldnt-think-of-abortion-as-a-dirty-little-secret-26748775.html|title=Why women shouldn't think of abortion as a 'dirty little secret'|last=Naughton|first=Celine|date=5 July 2011|newspaper=Irish Independent|access-date=19 March 2017|page=17}}
As of 2014, Rachel's Vineyard held over 1,000 retreats annually, in 48 U.S. states and 70 countries.{{cite news |url=http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/case-you-missed-it/story/having-had-two-abortions-teenager-jennifer-heng-now-helps-oth |date=26 March 2013 |access-date=27 July 2013 |title=Having had two abortions as teenager, Jennifer Heng now helps others heal |author=Melissa Lin |newspaper=The Straits Times}}
Rachel's Vineyard retreats are hosted by church based ministries, counseling outreach programs, Project Rachel offices, Respect Life groups, and crisis pregnancy centers. They are offered in both Catholic and interdenominational settings.
See also
- Women Hurt, an Irish organisation with similar goals, co-founded by the founder of the Irish chapter of Rachel's Vineyard, but with less focus on Catholicism
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{official|http://www.rachelsvineyard.org}}
Category:Anti-abortion organizations in the United States