Discuss: The Story About the One

A good friend of mine passed this on, and there is so much about it that I love.  It speaks to the truth of human experience. You detail how you tell or don’t tell to different audiences at different times, something so many women have to do. And you bring us back to what we have in common, across the political spectrum.  I am going to send this to lots of people and hope they read it. 

In particular, I want to note the statement about the man who said women who have had abortions do not get to talk about fetal life.  I founded and lead an organization called Exhale.  We operate a national, multilingual post-abortion talkline.  We are pro-voice. We hear from thousands of women and men every day and many of them have a lot to say about the fetus, or their baby, or the pregnancy (depending on what they chose to call it).  What we offer them is nonjudgmental listening, a witness, comfort, and chance to be heard.  Every person deserves this.

Two side and one objective. Sounds good to me.

Cannot spell tonight.

Two sides like a burger with a side of fries.

Right.

Years ago, I read an article about people on both ‘sides’ of this issue meeting in secret to find common ground.  Turned out they had these conversations at the Public Conversations Project, in Watertown, Massachusetts.
Now this article sheds more light on how ‘not so black & white’ this issue really is.  Thanks, Orion, for bringing it to my attention.

Wonderful article; how quick we all are to judge other people’s hard choices.  My question: why is the pro-life movement so full of these too in-your-face *men*?  Sure, we men get a say, but stridently anti-abortion males often seem to me to be unreasonably threatened by the larger issue: women making decisions.

This article is an excellent example of how to find common ground among those who strongly disagree, something we most definitely need to learn if we are to bring more people into the transformations that need to occur on so many levels. If people on both sides of the abortion issue can reach common ground then it seems to me that we should be able to do so on other, less contentious issues. Those on either side of the abortion issue mostly seem totally unable to have actual, respectful conversations. The only issue that even comes close in my experience, is veganism and meat eaters.

And, yes, women who have had an abortion absolutely do get to talk about fetal life. I know plenty of women who have had both an abortion and a baby, or babies. No one understands fetal life more than someone who has experienced both.

I would like to thank Sandra Steingraber for her profound and eloquent contribution to the environmental movement; for making concerns about toxic assault accessible and understandable to such a wide a variable audience. Respect for human life at all ages is a value that spans almost all political and social groups.

I just want to highlight this comment from Susan Meeker-Lowry because it is exactly right and it is the essence of pro-voice:

“And, yes, women who have had an abortion absolutely do get to talk about fetal life. I know plenty of women who have had both an abortion and a baby, or babies. No one understands fetal life more than someone who has experienced both.”