and you sound pretty profound to me. :)

We saw all three of these women in only one week, and every woman has her own story. Every one.

When I hear criticism of "women who have abortions just for convenience" I think of all the women who have trusted me, a stranger, with stories like these because they didn't have anyone else whom it was safe to talk to.

As free and autonomus women, we have more respect for our power to create and bestow life -- and for the reponsibility that we have to use that power wisely -- than all the Bill Napolis of the world and their slavish handmaidens combined.

Nevertheless, how many times have we all read condemnations of the mythical "girl who has an abortion just so she can fit into her prom dress?" This week I will mark the thirteenth anniversary of the day I began my work at the clinic. We have about 4,500 patients every year. Somebody else can do the math, but that's a lot of women. And you know how many times I've run into that iconic poster girl for frivolous abortion? Once, just one time.

She was past her prom years, but it was important to her not to be visibly pregnant beneath her white gown when she was married by her parish priest, whom she described as her "best friend." She explained that her church activities were the center of her social life, and that for years she and her female friends at church had entertained themselves by gossiping about and ridiculing all the women from their church who "had to get married." This thirty-something woman wasn't about to let her friends suspect that she was in the same situation by moving up the date of her long-planned wedding, or by giving them the chance to start counting on their fingers. Because, as she said, "good Catholics don't have sex before marriage."

When I could trust myself to speak, I asked, "So you're having an abortion because you're a good Catholic?"

"Oh, yes, because my church is the most important thing in my life."

Go figure.

We can help the Lilith Fund provide equal access for the women of Texas