I can think of no situation that plays more to two "ends" of a person -- "heart and head," if you will.
At age 17, I watched my 19-year-old wife wheeled away from me by a group of dour people who would not let me be with her when we had an abortion. The look in her eyes as she left, looking right into mine, was more than I could take.
I was alone in the waiting area (they were kind enough to let her come by to see me)... She looked so scared... I'm sure I did too... I felt so helpless... what could I do about anything? And she was gone.
There were big glass windows overlooking the land below, about 10 floors down... cold, undeveloped fields... and some highways... and I just lost it. I sobbed like I've never cried before. There was no one else there, except for one older woman, who saw me leaning against the window, sobbing.
She didn't know what was going on, she just came up to me and touched me on the shoulder-back and said "She's going to be okay."
I didn't say anything except "I know."
But if I could have, I would have curled up into a ball and died.
So, you know, to make this an entirely intellectual argument... or a game of "outing"... misses what you are doing to the people who have gone through it.
I still think all the time about it. It is woven into my being.
I know it's important that Roe v. Wade happened, I'm glad it did... I will never falter in that position... and I know that we were offered no supports or comforts... and we could have been given that and that would have reduced what we went through (and still go through)... nonetheless, please don't throw any confetti for me, sister.
Ken.
-- Reality is that which refuses to go away when I stop believing in it.
-- Phillip K. Dick