I suspect it's the same sort of reasoning that keeps many women from opposing abortion ... a deep-seated fear that admitting that it's killing will damn them, because they've had one.
According to National Right to Life, at age 45, one in three women will have had an abortion.
I agree with your reasoning.
The irony, in all such cases, is that atonement (whether religious or psychological) can only come through contrition. If someone does something wrong, trying to pretend it's right will not make it okay; it will just magnify the wrongdoing by aiding and abbetting those who do likewise. For a person to recognize that they did something wrong is not a black mark--actually, it's a good mark because it suggests the person may be wiser next time.