Abortion as a moral conflict

Truths and Consequences

We absolutely didn’t have a clue about what we were doing, but each one of us were self-motivated. It was like if you want it done, you do it yourself. That’s kind of the way we thought, except none of us wanted to plant the bomb. No one wanted to do that. We’d ask, “Who’s going to do it?” and everyone would say, “No, I don’t want to do it; you do it — I’ll blow myself up.”

Aug. 11, 1988 | Read full article

One Woman, One Man, No Baby

We went to her parents’ home that afternoon. They were still unaware of the pregnancy. As we sat Kelly felt slight cramps and noticed a bit of blood trickle down her legs.

Unexpectedly, Kelly’s mother said we should have a baby and then sell it for $10,000. Then she said, “No. I’m only joking.” Actually, she went on, she had been thinking of breeding her miniature terriers and selling the pups for $350 apiece.

By David Steinman, Nov. 18, 1982 | Read full article

Abortion Brings Albrights to Knees

After Jack and Johnny woke up, we loaded everybody into the van and made the short drive to the clinic. A Santa Ana wind had blown the air clean, and the hills around San Marcos seemed etched against the December sky. At the foot of the sandstone steps, we kneeled or stood around a framed print of the Virgin’s image. The breeze kept blowing the picture over. A few other families joined us.

By Anne Albright, Dec. 23, 1999 | Read full article

What Becomes of San Diego County's 20,000 Fetuses Every Year?

In February of 1982, however, 16,433 dead fetuses were discovered stored in twenty-foot steel boxes inside a metal shipping container repossessed from a Woodland Hills pathologist. Investigators later determined that among the fetuses were 193 that were older than twenty weeks. Antiabortion activists sought permission to bury the late-term remains but were thwarted by an injunction obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the Feminist Women’s Health Center.

By Bob McPhail, July 14, 1988 | Read full article

Dutiful Daughter

After three days, I lost all feeling that something had “happened” to my body. I realized it would be possible to deny that this had ever happened to me, if I chose to do so. I could revise my personal history, and there would be no challenge to my new, painless version. As I lost the physical memory, I sought to lose the emotional memory as well. I had learned already it is better not to dwell on these things.

By Lynn Grygier, Apr. 6, 1989 | Read full article

A Clash of Conscience

The next time I looked across the street, the anti-abortion people had shouldered their signs and were marching around in a brave little circle. They were hopelessly outnumbered, but the ten of them walked gamely around and around, clutching their signs and staring straight ahead. The fat man led off with a sign that said “Children Are a Heritage from the Lord.” It seemed to be the sentiment of choice.

By Julie Pinney and Father Bud Kaicher, Nov. 16, 1989 | Read full article

Debby Really Was Pro-Choice

Two weeks after the story was published, I received two phone calls that finished it, at least for me. One was from a staunch Catholic with ties to the local prolife movement. Call her Patricia. She met Fleming almost nine years ago when her husband tried to force her to have an abortion. Her husband’s family had money and lots of lawyers. Patricia only had Fleming, who went to court with her and fought for Patricia’s right to have her child.

By Colin Flaherty, Dec. 20, 1990 | Read full article