Every time I see a “Trust Women” sticker or meme or hashtag in the context of abortion advocacy, a question springs to mind: trust women to do what? Makes about as much sense to me as wearing a “Trust Men” sticker. Trustworthiness is not a gender-linked trait.
There are women I trust, of course – not because they’re women, but because they affirm life while they speak with authority born of experience. Those voices deserve to be heard.
Beginning on December 22 and running until the anniversary of Roe v. Wade on January 22, I’m going to feature posts about women who came through a variety of experiences to find themselves – sometimes to their own astonishment – opposing abortion and Roe v. Wade.
Some but not all of the stories will be familiar to you. The women whose voices we’ll hear come from varying backgrounds and faith traditions. There are Granite State neighbors and people of national renown. Some have led quiet, straightforward lives; others have survived profound disorder and have refused to surrender to it.
This won’t be a compendium of storybook saints. Life can be a hot mess, and these women have been in the thick of it, some with more serenity than others.
Their callings have all to one degree or another been about abortion. Some of the women have had abortions or have provided them. Others work with abortion-vulnerable or post-abortive women. There are women who were born alive after attempted abortion, or who were conceived in circumstances that made them “exceptions” to abortion restrictions. Finally, there are the women whose pseudonyms are on the Roe v. Wade decision and its companion case, Doe v. Bolton.
The Voices to Trust series begins here December 22. Links to the posts will be added below as they’re published.
Links to posts in the series:
Karen Colageo, post-abortion counselor
New Hampshire Rep. Susan DeLemus
Leaven for the Loaf 