When interviewed for my mission, with about a year in the Church, I was asked if I’d ever participated in an abortion. I answered yes, since about two years prior (prior to my baptism or even investigating the Church), I had gotten a girl pregnant, she desired an abortion, and requested that I pay half of the cost and take her there, which I did. My then SP said that it was Church policy that I had to be cleared by a General Authority, since I’d participated, even though I’d disclosed same to the missionaries and had to be cleared by their MP prior to my baptism. Having to get GA clearance did seem confusing since the MP prior to my baptism had assured me that should be the end of it and I need not ‘splain’ it ever again. The SP said that he understood my concern but that it would have never been asked if I were simply getting a TR or any calling (save, I suppose, being called as a bishop, which I doubt a 21 y.o. single fulltime student would be), but for a fulltime mission, disclosed and ‘repented’ or not, it still needed to be cleared, which it was. The GA that did it is now deceased (this was late 1979, and my then-g/f waited patiently outside so we could catch the “Star Trek” movie, to give you an idea how long ago it was, and he did allay my concerns about would I always be ‘hounded’ about this mistake, which he said was not, and he’d been virtually 100% sure that he’d clear me, it was just ‘procedure’.

The best way to deal with it is to never do it in the first place, or, what leads to it.