Why I Support Legal Late-Term Abortion
My Newsweek piece from 2009 is more relevant than ever
I wrote the following “My Turn” column for Newsweek in 2009 after the murder of Kansas abortion provider Dr. George Tiller intensified the national debate over late-term abortion.
I have a special interest in this topic because I had a brother who was severely disabled. Though he lived well into adulthood, he never developed beyond an infantile state.
Abortion was not an option for my parents when Jon was born back in 1949. I doubt they would have chosen abortion even if it were an option. But in not having the right to choose abortion, there was also a heavy emotional price to be paid. They never had the chance to take a personal inventory and ask themselves honestly if they were capable of caring for a severely retarded child along with their four other children.
For anyone who believes life is precious, such a decision is bound to be wrenching. Whatever choice one makes is sure to be painful and deeply personal.
For the first three years of Jon's life, my parents tried to care for him at home. He would spend nearly all day screaming or rocking uncontrollably or banging his head out of frustration for what he couldn't do for himself. "Success" at the end of the day, as my mother described it, would mean coaxing the baby to swallow enough food to nourish himself.
Jon caused my family severe emotional distress in his early years. Both of my parents experienced nervous breakdowns. They could not face the reality that they could not care for him in their home and at the same time meet the needs of their healthy children. Years later, my uncle wrote a rather macabre story
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