Loss is always a miserable experience: be it loss of innocence, loss of illusions, loss of youth, or loss of friendships. I’ve experienced all four of those during the past year, and it isn’t a happy place to be.

But the sanctity of human life, and the respect we afford to the unborn, is obviously more important than my recent difficulties. Jesus commands us to “love our neighbors” – and he didn’t stipulate that we love only those of one religion, race, creed or prenatal development.

Therefore, it goes without saying that I wish to applaud ORW for its efforts to “expose the works of darkness” (i.e., inform the public to the facts attendant to abortion). However, it also goes without saying that some of what I saw (even in my downloaded copy) still hurts me. I have already stated my beliefs on this, so I won’t repeat them. I would just say that I certainly admire the 14-year-old girl who, exhibiting courage and maturity beyond her tender years, opted for the sanctity of life instead of the illusion of abortion. Thanks be to God – and to ORW – for their conjoined efforts in this regard.

I would also like to share this additional joyful news: My hometown of Hays, KS is now home to a wonderful sanctuary for unwed mothers called the Mary Elizabeth Maternity Home. A million miles from the forbidding and woeful “homes for wayward girls” that previously dotted the nation’s heartland, this shelter is dedicated to honoring and protecting young girls facing unplanned pregnancies. Further information may be derived by accessing its website:

http://www.maryelizabeth.net/

Hays is a far different tableau from the prurient wasteland I remember from my youth. Let us all remember that compassion, caring and love are far more powerful than resentment, prejudice and hate. It is too late – 30 years too late – to offset my own tragedy, but I pray that the diligence of all those who continue to labor for the unborn will be rewarded by our Lord – now and for always.

First of all, whoever created and hung that imbecilic banner proclaiming that “motherhood and abortion” are to be equated as American values was grossly misinformed – or just plain gross, take your pick on that one. Listen up, Dr. Tiller: Even on the day I underwent my own abortion…..even during the first five post-op months when I experienced relief (or what I thought was relief) at the so-called “solution” to my dilemma…..even during much of this year when I sublimated much of my own moral clarity to the altar of equanimity, I never – I repeat, NEVER – would have equated abortion (much less my own) with motherhood. I did not regard my abortion as a “value.” I regarded it, as well as my pregnancy at age 16, as a tragedy. To be sure, my conscience was not fully informed back then, but in the audacity sweepstakes, that equation is pretty darned obscene, in my opinion.

Secondly, and this is rather important as well. Do I believe that Dr. Tiller and others like him really “care about women?” Do I really and truly believe my own abortionist gave a whit about me as a person? i.e., did he care two cold craps about the fact that a 16-year-old with an IQ in the single digits was facing an untimely pregnancy? Did the snooty minister who coldly dismissed my newly-resurfaced post-abortive angst two months ago “really care” about his female flock? By releasing me into the arcana of “personal choice” with virtually no moral guidance? Does he “care?”

Please.

Suffice it to say, I’m nobody’s fool at this stage in my life – and I’m far more intelligent, too.

Dr. Tiller cares about money. I’m not asserting that he (or my own abortionist) “hates” women. Both of these men have convinced themselves that their actions are not morally blameworthy. But do I buy into that tired cliche that “abortion saves lives?” What a paradoxical statement that is.

Finally, I’m angry that Dr. Tiller and others have not utilized their vast resources, combined medical expertise and purported “social conscience” to assist women (and men….and children) through wholly licit means. Yes, fertility awareness and family planning are vital aspects of women’s lives. If those were the driving motivators of Dr. Tiller’s methodology, I would have no moral qualms whatsoever.

I was impressed with the praise meted out to “Their Blood Cries Out” – especially that of Father Frank Pavone (Priests For Life). I am not sure I can bear (or get my cranium around) the concept of bloodguilt – given my own history. A martyrdom of anguish on my part will not 1) bring my child back; or 2) enable me to help others if I lose my mind. However, I will likely purchase a copy when I am able($) to do so.