My mind is reeling at the responses to this article. Shame on you (and I mean that literally). This woman most likely comes from a milieu that surely thinks the decision she made is not only stupid, impractical, and sentimental, but a downright betrayal of the feminist/secularist/me first ethos, she is writing for the NYT for the NYT after all!
She had the courage to listen to “that still, small voice” and stubbornly resisted what she had previously, and thoughtlessly, believed to be the reasonable thing to do.
Did you notice this sentence from her essay?: “I turned to the Internet, hoping to find some clarity. Instead I found anti-abortion Web sites that terrified me with images of dead fetuses and stories of women scarred for life.” If she had had the opportunity to speak with most of (actually, all but one at last count) the thoughtless, arrogant, heartless, posters on this thread I don’t doubt that there would be one less child in this world.
I agree. I don’t understand what some hope to gain from being harsh and judgemental. I wonder whether they think it is even good that she decided to have the baby. With all the talk about how unfortunate the child is, and how unfit the mother is, you have to wonder.
The way I see it, she didn’t have any moral education or values. She found herself unexpectedly pregnant at a particularily difficult time in her life. Her husband encouraged her to have an abortion. She couldn’t bring herself to do it, and attempted to change her life to accomodate the child.
Maybe she isn’t a prolife poster child, but she did make the right decision. It wasn’t easy for her, so perhaps this child will be even more special when it is born.
I find that “tone” on many threads. Forgive me for a faulty memory(my brain is like a seive these days), but isn’t there a passage in the Bible that says, “ a soft tone turneth away wrath”?
Too many folks here have this attitude that they walk on water and sh*t rose petals. I especially love the judgements rained down on those who need help from the darn government, or have been brainwashed by schools and raised by disinterested parents.
This woman needs to be connected to women who will not judge her, but nurture her and rekindle her innate maternal instincts. If I had seen your post, I would have pinged you to my post #50.