Late-Term Abortions

So admittedly this is not the cheeriest of posts, which I'm sure you gathered from the heading. This article was linked from CNN, so you may have already seen it, but if not it is REALLY worth a close read. If I had to choose, I would have to call myself pro-choice over pro-life (I hate those terms, don't you??), but I am and have always been deeply conflicted about the question of abortion. Late-term abortions, however, always seemed in my head like a much more straightforward issue: if the mother's health is not in danger, aborting a late-term child who could survive on his or her own is not something society should support. Seems simple (a word entirely inappropriate to the issue of abortion, I realize).

A heartbreaking situation like this woman's however, is not something I'd ever thought of. It's horrifying. What she does, though, is take her personal tragedy and force people like me, who too easily draw the line on late-term abortions despite being minimally informed, to understand that late-term abortions are perhaps infinitely MORE complicated and difficult an issue than abortions in earlier trimesters. This article has stayed with me for several days since I read it, and it will do the same to you, I promise. It's very sad, uncomfortable, and painful, but very very VERY important to read. Bravo to Lynda Waddington for writing this.