Trust Women

Marie Claire's September issue profiles two women, Holly Rossiter and Tricia Miller, facing the most difficult choice of their lives. Both are enthusiastically and intentionally pregnant until they discover their unborn children have deadly fetal abnormalities.

Rossiter chooses to carry her pregnancy to term. She delivers a baby girl, who dies four hours after birth. Gathering with family and friends, she welcomes her daughter with a birthday party, knowing it will be her last.

Miller decides to abort her pregnancy, keeping her decision a secret from some family members. She suffers the taunts from protesters as she walks into the clinic and deals with the mandatory waiting period, knowing that she will not change her mind. Ultimately, she tells people who ask that she lost the baby, leaving them to interpret that as they will.

My heart ached reading their stories. I worry that by being partnered with each other they may be interpreted as a false dichotomy: pro-life vs pro-choice. Such an analysis could not be more wrong. They both represent a pro-choice perspective--these women actively made decisions and determined what was best in their situation. Rossiter found comfort in carrying her child to term, while Miller attempted to save her future child from pain and suffering by terminating the pregnancy. I don't know what I would do in their shoes.

The lesson to learn from articles like these is simple: TRUST WOMEN.

Photo courtesy of Yann Seitek