This blog is for men and women who have experienced abortion, a late miscarriage, infertility or other issues.    I'm a filmmaker who is working on a documentary on abortion in America.   My personal views is that abortion should be fully accessible and legal for those who choose it.   I want to hear women's stories.  Especially from women who have experienced a late abortion for whatever reason.   The title of this blog is sage- having wisdom that comes with age or experience - I want to hear from those who have experience - not merely those wanting to express their opions. 

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

George Tiller - Health Care Provider.

I was sad to hear the news that Dr. George Tiller, a health care provider who performed abortions, was murdered while attending church this week.  Here's more from the New York Times.  Dr. Tiller's clinic was one of the few in the United States offering late abortions.  
I never thought much as to the reason a woman would have an abortion late into her pregnancy until about 2 years ago when I met a woman who had a miscarriage when she was about 6 months pregnant.  For comfort she started talking to other women with similar experiences.  She recalled a woman who discovered that the fetus she was carrying was developing without a brain.  This condition can not be detected until later in the pregnancy.  The woman discovered this at 6 months and then decided to go ahead and deliver the baby despite the fact that the doctors told her the baby would live for a couple of hours and then die.   For the next few months the woman lived as a recluse as she didn't want to go out in public and have to endure the comments "When is the baby due?" "is this your first?",   "are you excited?".    She delivered the baby and it promptly died as the doctors had told her.     I wondered what I would do in this woman's situation.   One thing for sure, I would want the decision to be left up to me and my partner and not to the medical establishment, the government, or left to the decision of the American public.  This decision, I've decided should be mine alone.   It is a medical and ethical decision and those immediately involved are the best to decide what is right for them and the unborn child.   This is the reason I'm interested in helping to share this and other stories.