feinberg@trwrb.UUCP (Cheryl R. Feinberg) (03/22/84)
I agree wholeheartedly with Morgan's suggestion of a mandatory
"cooling off period."
I was one of those women with a surprise, "unwanted" pregnancy.
When I learned of my predicament, I was 19 and single and told
my doctor "No way am I having this baby." Only the year was
1967 and safe abortions weren't readily available. The only
legal abortions were with a psychiatrist's afidavit saying it
would be extremely harmful to the mother to continue the
pregnancy. The time it took to set up my appointment (with
guaranteed concurrence) gave me time to rethink my position.
I decided not to have the abortion, and have not regretted
that decision for one second. It should be noted that I had
no idea how I would care for this child, but I/we managed -
quite nicely. She is now a beautiful (nearly) 16 year old girl.
The point is that some women would change their minds in this
cooling off period, and those that did would likely be
grateful that someone had the foresight to mandate it. I
just got lucky.
Cheryl Feinbergix192@sdccs6.UUCP (03/26/84)
[] From: ...trwrb!feinberg (Cheryl Feinberg) > I decided not to have the abortion, and have not regretted > that decision for one second. It should be noted that I had > no idea how I would care for this child, but I/we managed - > quite nicely. She is now a beautiful (nearly) 16 year old girl. Nice Cheryl, but of what monetary status are (were) you? Did your parents help you in the upbringing? Were you already engaged? Did you already have a home and was not in college? It shoulds to me like bringing up your child was no big strain for you, never endangering your life. You didn't risk your career or all your dreams and goals to keep the baby going. Don't get me wrong! It's nice that everything worked out and you care for your child. But as for your situation, you said it below - you got lucky. > The point is that some women would change their minds in this > cooling off period, and those that did would likely be > grateful that someone had the foresight to mandate it. I > just got lucky. Yes, but how much of the total abortion-needing women would be that "some that change their minds" be? You didn't need the mandatory waiting period, what make you think you're so special, that other people will? Abortion is no small thing that a woman can just waltz up and buy in a drugstore. She'll have to wait for the upcoming appointment in the first place! And I'm sure if Lincoln hadn't come along, there'd be a lot of KKK's who would likely be grateful that someone had to foresight to keep their slaves in slavery. Kenn the Kenf ...!sdcsvax!kenn ...!sdcsvax!sdccs6!ix192 ...!sdcsvax!sdccsu3!kenn