"You never stop thinking about the baby you killed."

January 26, 2010 by  
Filed under Patrick's Blog

This is one of the strangest, most schizophrenic abortion-related things I’ve seen in a long time, maybe ever.

Penelope Trunk, a successful career advice columnist/blogger, wrote a blog piece last summer called “What’s the Connection Between Abortion and Careers?” The title caught my eye and drew me in to what at first I thought would be just another “yeah, so what if I had an abortion?” kind of piece. I was wrong. Or maybe I should say I was half wrong.

I did not expect Trunk to say some of things she said in that article. After reading it, I was left scratching my head in wonderment that, on one hand, this obviously intelligent woman could be so honest and forthright in her admission of what abortion is and what it does — to the mother and the child — and still be four-square in favor of legal abortion.

Later, Ms. Trunk sent out a note on Twitter announcing that she was having a miscarriage. The Twittersphere and, soon afterward, the blogosphere, freaked out about that, with many people excoriating her for publicly discussing something so private.

Personally, I don’t really care about the propriety or lack of it in her Twitter message. When I watched this video, I was again nonplussed at how this woman is able (with a straight face that neither dissolves into a smirk or into sobs [either of those reactions would seem more natural, more
human, if you ask me]) to so blandly admit that she was glad she had had a miscarriage, because it saved her from having to “wait in line to get an abortion.” And this, after she had just finished telling the goofy CNN talking head about how much she loved her two children and how sorrowful she was when she miscarried another pregnancy.

At one point, she intoned glassily that Whether or not you believe women should have the right to abortion, they do in this country.” If the hapless host had been thinking clearly, he should have reminded her and the audience that, in 1860, a white man could just as blythely have said, “Whether or not you believe whites have the right to own black slaves, they do in this country.”

Or, “Whether or not you believe men should have the right to prevent women from voting, they do in this country” (prior to 1920), etc., etc.

That’s the point. Because enough Americans believed that white’s should not have the right to own other human beings as slaves is why we were able to abolish that terrible “legal right.” Similarly, though of far, far less a magnitude on the injustice scale, Because enough Americans came to believe that it was wrong to deny women the vote is the only reason why that unjust law was eradicated. (And that didn’t happen until 1920!)

Penelope Trunk’s attitude toward abortion is just . . . weird. It’s schizophrenic. I don’t understand it. I feel so very sorry for her.

I have had two abortions.

The first one was when I was twenty-seven. I was playing professional beach volleyball. I was playing volleyball eight hours a day and I spent two hours a day at the gym. I noticed that I was getting tired more easily, but I thought it meant I needed to train harder.

Then one weekend, a doctor friend on a visit saw me drop a plate one day, and a vase the next. I told her my hands just gave out because they were so tired.

She said I was anemic. Then she said, “Maybe you’re pregnant.”

“I’m not,” I said. “I have a regular period.”

It turns out, though, that you can have a regular period and still be pregnant.

And I was. Fourteen weeks.

My friend said, “Schedule the abortion now. You’re already late for it.”

I didn’t do anything. I was in shock. My boyfriend was in shock. Neither of us had ever had a pregnancy. I couldn’t believe the whole process actually worked, to be honest.

I told my mom I was pregnant. She said, “Get an abortion.”

I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t really thinking I had any choices. I didn’t have a job that could support a child. And I wasn’t sure if I was planning to marry my boyfriend, although we were living together. I knew that I had big ideas for my life and I hadn’t figured things out yet.

My mom got militant. “You’ll destroy your career possibilities.”

She riffed on this theme for a week, calling me every night. Her passion is understandable. My mom took . . . (continue reading)

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7 Responses to “"You never stop thinking about the baby you killed."”
  1. Deirdre Mundy says:

    Ok– I just read the whole blogpost and it's heartbreaking. She's basically admitting that abortion is NOT the answer, and that, at least at some level, she regrets them.

    And it sounds like she really got pushed into the first one by everyone she knew–that it was a forgone conclusion that she had no choice.

    So because her friends, boyfriend and family were addicted to 'choice,' they made sure she didn't have a choice.

    As an aside, her mother sounds like a real piece of work. "Children ruin your career. Don't have kids. My career is awesome. I hated being home with you." Is it any wonder the daughter is messed up? Her mother seems to tell her 'I wish you'd never been born' over and over in a hundred little ways.

    The poor woman. Her poor dismembered kids…

  2. Deirdre Mundy says:

    Really, elm, how could she live with it WITHOUT the mental gymnastics?? I mean she has other living kids who she adores. So without some degree of craziness, how else could she make it through the day looking at her living kids and thinking "I killed your siblings. You know how you always wished you had a big brother? Well, actually, you did. And I paid a man to kill him."

    I mean, facing that reality would lead to the sort of descent into madness that you usually only see in Shakespeare and Greek Tradgedy.

  3. elm says:

    Killing a child is just a part of life??? Mentalgymnastics.

  4. K. Bernadette says:

    Since the ridiculous argument that an embryo/fetus is not really human has finally died out, the pro abortioners are now justifying abortion for what it really is, murder. I've seen it many times lately, this one is just a bit more accepting of the reality, rather than attempting to justify it with big words and arguments in ethics.
    Scary!

  5. Monica says:

    Heartbreaking. Her comments probably seem schizophrenic, because she has had to cope with her abortions somehow…she probably really is split in her thinking. She's had to live with that sin and guilt for years it will never go away unless she seeks God and his mercy. Pray that God's grace overtakes her.

  6. Catherine says:

    Ask a woman why she had an abortion, and almost all will give exactly the same answer that this woman gave: "I wasn't thinking I had any CHOICE." So much for being pro-choice.

    As a post-abortive woman myself, I can almost guarantee you that at some point in her sad life, she will realize what she has lost, and it will manifest itself physically, emotionally and spiritually.

    Or maybe not. I had to look away from the video at one point, because I felt such a presence of evil. The woman has no conscience. This is chilling….

  7. Jordan Henderson says:

    That is a really interesting article. Makes it pretty clear what is written on our hearts.

    Not to hijack the discussion, but I think this is about the best thing I've ever read on the subject:

    http://insidecatholic.com/Joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7560&Itemid=48

    This thoroughly explains the disconnect we have with this subject in our society, why the two sides can't even begin to discuss it.

    Also, it emphasizes how a thoroughly Catholic understanding or Sex and Procreation is necessary. Not just supportive of the pro-life position, but necessary.

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