Tuesday morning, as I was riding my bike, there were several people protesting in front of the Planned Parenthood clinic. I spent the rest of my ride thinking about why I find these protests so offensive. Unfortunately, by the time I returned they were gone so I was not able to tell them directly. I will tell them through this letter.
From 1930-1935, my mother had four single births in less than five years. This left her so fragile that shortly after, her babies were farmed out to relatives while she regained some stability after suffering a nervous breakdown.
Before Roe v. Wade, my sister had three single births in three years. Becoming pregnant for a fourth time a year later, and feeling no more capable of handling four young babies than my mother had been, she successfully performed an abortion on herself with a silver spoon. She was so desperate she was willing to risk her life and leave her babies without a mother.
What I find criminally offensive is that these protesters feel they have the right to make decisions for women like my sister who are so desperate they are willing to risk their lives and leave their children without a mother, all for the personal beliefs of the protesters. They may think of this as exercising their freedom of speech; to those women and children whose lives they ruin or put at risk, it is tyranny.
Judy Crondahl,
Juneau