Respect to the End

Today is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade and progressive bloggers are talking about why they're pro-choice. I invite you to share your own stories. Here is mine:

Like any good raised-Catholic girl, I memorized the anti-choice line to recite to my thirteen year-old friends. Becky wasn't buying it. She countered every theological question with reasoned argument until we agreed to disagree and went back to talking about Duran Duran.

Senior year in high school, one of our friends got pregnant. Daisy* wasn't ready to be a mother and chose to have an abortion. I didn't hesitate to support her decision. I also happened to agree with it. Of course, along the way it occurred to me that Daisy wasn't alone.

And that's when I became pro-choice.

Several years later, during my college quest to find myself, I completed the jump by working at Tampa Woman's Health Center. Started out as a Peer Counselor, holding the hands of frightened women as they faced the most difficult decision of their lives. Taught me a great deal about compassion, integrity, and withholding judgment. I also learned about this controversial procedure from beginning to end and decided that women everywhere should have options. As an advocate for my patients, sometimes they had to be turned away. Abortion wasn't right for everyone and if a woman seemed to be coerced or unsure, no one wanted her in that clinic. Sometimes she came back more determined. Other times - disappeared for good.

I worked with brave physicians who withstood harassment and death threats in order to provide a needed service to hundreds of grateful women. I appeared on local talk shows and argued for choice. I marched on Washington.

Also walked out of a NOW meeting because the speaker dared to label pro-life women "weak and pathetic". Wouldn't have it. You see, pro-life women raised me to kick ass and take names. Not a weak one among 'em. I happen to disagree with them about when life begins and believe women need a safe and legal choice. However, I will not participate in demonizing the other side because that'd make me as bad as Coulter. And I can't have that either.

So here we are. Abortion is safe. And legal. And under attack.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - before Roe v. Wade - the abortion issue was lobbied fiercely. And those fighting hardest for legalization was a group of emergency room physicians. Imagine for a moment what they must have seen to make so many - even those personally committed to being pro-life - fight to take abortions out of back alleys. Just imagine.

And that's why we won't go back.