I think this topic is very important. I am a semi-regular poster here, but I am posting under a different name because some of you may know who I am and being a woman who has had an abortion is still looked upon with disdain.

I think it is important that a woman who has had an abortion has a voice in this debate. Contrary to what some of the posters here have indicated, I have felt NO emotional damage from the abortion. Was there trauma because the pregnancy was due to rape? Of course. Was there sadness because my first pregnancy would not come to term and was unwanted? Yes. Was there a conflict with my religious beliefs – very much so. But the rape I endured or my pregnancy was not a topic that I believed I could handle nor was it a topic that I could discuss with my family. Those issues traumatized me. It is true that I have thought about the pregnancy and periodically wish that life would have been different for me – but it wasn’t. I know I did the best I could with the information and knowledge that I had at the time -- that is all anyone can really ask for.

People like to think that abortion does not carry with it a stigma – but it does. I do not believe that there is a substantial amount of women that undergo an abortion because they affirmatively wanted to undergo an abortion. It is the only option that women believe is available to them. Once rape and pregnancy is no longer looked upon with disdain, and the discussion can occur without judgment, MAYBE then you can have an honest discussion about abortion.

Roe-v-Wade

DFO: Thank you for sharing this perspective. This took guts -- even under another pseudonym. I hope no one uses your trial as a springboard for the same-o rhetoric that occurs whenever abortion is brought to the fore here. If you eliminated the extremes, the ones who fear they'll lose everything if they give an inch, mebbe we could have an honest discussion about abortion. It'll be awhile I'm afraid.

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