Mapping the Landscape of Catholic Voices
Your Voices, Your Stories
Eric Nelson
Racine, WI (USA)
"My focus on the legal side of the abortion debate had led me to act as though laws matter more than people. So, I am now taking the election of Barack Obama as the start of a new day for me." Read more…
Jenny Achuthan
Shorewood, WI (USA)
"… at its very heart, I see the struggle to protect the "least of these" as a social justice issue." Read more…
Tana Schott
Bremerton, WA (USA)
"The reality is that each of us lives with a measure of dissonance." Read more…
Erin Fairbanks
Thousand Oaks, CA (USA)
"In a perfect world, we would be able to take our problems to our parents, to our priests, rabbis, and pastors and have a compassionate ear and help with the solutions." Read more…
Teresa Tillson
Olympia, WA (USA)
"This comment has been removed at the author's request. " Read more…
Anne C. Fowler
Jamaica Plain, MA (USA)
"In April of 1973 my husband left me, pleading that he had fallen in love with our upstairs tenant and wanted to spend his life with her. I was four months pregnant. Roe v. Wade had been decided..." Read more…
Melissa Hutton
Hagerstown, MD (USA)
"But what I did is between the Lord and me, it is to Him that I am accountable, and I have no excuse, just circumstances." Read more…
Susan Amussen
Merced, CA (USA)
"I approach abortion as a woman who had one when I was 20, who knows that I ended a life (not a human life, but a life.) I understand it as a sin — something which separated me from God." Read more…
Ed Loucks
Silver Spring, MD (USA)
"My son is pro-life. My daughter is pro-choice. They love each other very much and have learned to disagree with civility. We should all follow their example." Read more…
Len Moskowitz
Teaneck, NJ (USA)
"Orthodox Jews have a perspective on when life begins that is a continuum." Read more…
Kiely Todd Roska
Minneapolis, MN (USA)
"I have come to believe that a fetus becomes a child is when a covenantal relationship is established between a mother and the developing fetus." Read more…
Bruce Campbell
Brookfield, WI (USA)
"As a person of faith, I dislike abortion but I feel nothing but compassion towards the terrified, powerless people that see no other choice." Read more…
Bill Berger
Wauwatosa, WI (USA)
"I know that I am called — we all are called — to take action on our values. I am just not sure that outlawing abortion is a right action to take." Read more…
Neal Grose
Harmony, NC (USA)
"Combining these things together leads me to be mostly against abortion and to know that we have to keep Roe v. Wade. It simply can not be black or white, red or blue." Read more…
Kelley Renz
Fort Wayne, IN (USA)
"I do support keeping abortion legal. I hate that we can abort." Read more…
Gina Fioriti
Mendham, NJ (USA)
"How could I tell them that "they made their bed and had to lie in it" without seeing the distorted psyche underneath and the need for healing and a second chance?" Read more…
Catherine Britell
Seattle, WA (USA)
"I believe passionately that the strength of our society is in how we treat the least fortunate among us. I am strongly pro-life and as strongly pro-choice." Read more…
Sara Hubner
South Berwick, ME (USA)
"I tend to agree with the bumper sticker slogan, "If you don't trust me with a choice, how can you trust me with a child?"" Read more…
K Tooke
Portlamd, OR (USA)
"You who have not been there cannot imagine the lengths a woman/girl will go to terminate a pregnancy if that is her desire. I was lucky to find a "safe situation."" Read more…
Lois Cunningham
Roseville, MN (USA)
"I don't believe one can speak of moral and spiritual aspects outside of social dynamics of the family." Read more…
Daniel Halperin
Belmont, MA (USA)
"I think that a major opportunity for developing "common ground" on the abortion issue is that nearly everyone across the spectrum agrees that abortion is inherently a "bad" thing…" Read more…
John Wettstein
Milwaukee, WI (USA)
"Here in Wisconsin, one of the more Catholic states in the nation, many like me are torn between the pro-life (before birth) position of someone like McCain, and the pro-life (after birth) positions..." Read more…
Suzin Green
New York, NY (USA)
"It was a room of 300 women, mostly strangers, all different lifestyles, value systems, and religions. But in the simple telling of and listening to our stories…" Read more…
Linda Maloney
Enosburg Falls, VT (USA)
"…our role as citizens is different from our role as church (synagogue, mosque) members…" Read more…
Kelly B Anquoe
Tahlequah, OK (USA)
"Abortion has been permitted to float to the top because pioneer Christians still practice unquestioned leadership." Read more…
Ernest Ciambarella
Cincinnati, OH (USA)
"I am a pediatrician. In my practice I have encountered four cases where the family felt that abortion was the best choice." Read more…
Aaron Spiegel
Indianapolis, IN (USA)
"The traditional way of studying Talmud is for two people to take a position and argue it fully and vociferously." Read more…
Carolyn Poulakos
Coralville, IA (USA)
"The God who from the cross forgave those who crucified Him can surely forgive those who make desperate and difficult choices." Read more…
Mary Feeney
Chicago, IL (USA)
"The day I had my abortion was the day I truly understood what is meant by "a mother's love" and mark that moment as the start of my adult friendship with my mother." Read more…
Cynthia Stevens
Washington, DC (USA)
"What I'd like to see is a compassionate community response that enables each woman to figure out for herself — in the context of her own beliefs, values, and life — what makes the most..." Read more…
Kirsten Kringle
Minneapolis, MN (USA)
"It seems almost foreign to me, now, to think of myself as the pro-choice, cynical, rational, level-headed person I was before last week." Read more…
Karen Vaughan
Brooklyn, NY (USA)
"And the idea of giving away my flesh and blood was inconceivable — a topic that should be explored further as it seems to be a visceral value at least as strong as the right of the fetus to life." Read more…
Aubrey Ruwe
Omaha, NE (USA)
"But I think that even murder has nuance and that laws are established to protect societal peace." Read more…
Lucy King
Indianapolis, IA (USA)
"As a woman and a retired physician, I am well aware that the vast majority of women take abortion very seriously and struggle with such a decision." Read more…
Susan Price
Rochester, NY (USA)
"My great-aunt Nellie died from abortion-induced peritonitis in 1913." Read more…
Jennifer Naylor
Glen Cove, NY (USA)
"I simply cannot fathom a society that would force a woman to have a baby originating in a rape or incestuous relation." Read more…
Don Gleiter
Warminster, PA (USA)
"I don't think I met a single woman there who did not see her abortion as a life-changing experience." Read more…
Nancy Ashton
Haddonfield, NJ (USA)
"I don't think we are going to get to agreement on this issue, so we need to figure out a way…" Read more…
Robert Best
Atlanta, GA (USA)
"I don't argue technically and esoterically about when life begins. I just know that without them, the world would be a lesser place." Read more…
Helen Ayers
Omaha, NE (USA)
"I may intellectually be defined as pro-life, but emotionally pulled in another direction." Read more…
Barbara Thomas
Climax, NC (USA)
"I find it offensive that the political and religious spheres have so debased the fuller implications of these issues…" Read more…
Ed Cyzewski
Arlington, VT (USA)
"It's as if we haven't collectively realized that we can simultaneously be pro-child and pro-woman." Read more…
Russell Smith
Charlotte, NC (USA)
practices rarely
"In the end the state must decide when abortion becomes murder." Read more…
Jesse Benediict
Buford, GA (USA)
practices daily
"Outside of context, the moral aspect of abortion and the potentiality of spiritual consequence of going through an individual seems to weigh against it." Read more…
Liz Mccollum
Osaka, JP
practices occasionally
"To me the pro-choice movement is more truly "pro-life" as it seeks to address life as it is, rather than some unrealistic ideal held by many of the so-called "pro-lifers."" Read more…
Kathy Berlin
St. Paul, MN (USA)
practices daily
"I like the discussion that has now evolved from pro-choice — to abortion reduction. Let's really understand why women are choosing such a difficult choice in the first place." Read more…
Mark Hiser
New Albany, OH (USA)
"I am sure that the decision to abort is painful and difficult. I am not sure, however, that help is at hand for other options." Read more…
Jeanine Diller
Ann Arbor, MI (USA)
practices daily
"I like to think we are all pro-life in the sense that we all value and encourage human life. And we are all pro-choice in the sense that we value and encourage freedom. Perhaps pro-responsibility?" Read more…
Daniel Everson
Columbia, MO (USA)
practices daily
"I don't want to be a one-issue voter, but the fact is that the pro-life issue is central to any just society." Read more…
Lael Gray
Asheville, NC (USA)
practices monthly
"I have taught these same lessons to my children: people enjoy having sex, but there are risks of disease and unwanted pregnancy; wait to have sex until you meet the right person who you trust and..." Read more…
Amy Ruffo
Sheboygan, WI (USA)
"Because I view the world as gray, I am able to accept their opinion — as long as I am provide the space to have mine." Read more…
Helen Jun
ST Louis, MO (USA)
practices daily
"To me, it seems that some so-called pro-life people are really only <em>pro-birth</em>." Read more…
J Berliner
Round Rock, TX (USA)
practices daily
"Abortion is a terrible thing to choose, and yet it should not be regarded as murder in the usual sense." Read more…
Christy Whiddon
Hoviksnas, SE
practices daily
"…there is in general a lot of social support in most of Europe — and definitely in Sweden — for single mothers as well as non-single mothers." Read more…
Debra Collum
Maple Grove, MN (USA)
practices daily
"Being single-minded about anything considered "moral" is a dangerous way to determine right from wrong." Read more…
Jerry Lambeth
Harrisvile, NY (USA)
practices daily
"I am proud to be "pro-life." To be "pro-choice" is to be pro-death." Read more…
David Blauw
Holland, MI (USA)
practices monthly
"Jesus has come to relieve the oppressor
and the oppressed
to relieve the enslaved by another's will." Read more…
Carlton Veazey
Washington, DC (USA)
practices weekly
"I am a Baptist minister and president of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC). I am pro-choice about abortion because of my religious tradition and beliefs." Read more…
Joseph Miller
Santa Barbara, CA (USA)
practices daily
"I believe abortion is wrong. But it is a part of a network of wrongs…" Read more…
Tim Cady
Buffalo, MN (USA)
"…it breaks my heart that there are so many babies lost to abortion, but it's my feeling that we aren't really ready as a society to change Roe vs. Wade until we are willing to change the..." Read more…
Nadean Bishop
Stillwater, MN (USA)
practices weekly
"We ask women, "Do you think your God wants what's best for you?"" Read more…
Brooke Heerwald
Rosemount, MN (USA)
practices daily
"As a pastor, I have found that people who do not know me well enough to have asked what I think immediately assume that I am politically pro-life." Read more…
Nancy Waisanen
St. Paul, MN (USA)
practices daily
"Just as people have strong beliefs in Jesus as Lord and savior, the existence of God, or even the righteousness of our current wars, abortion is based more on deep-seated beliefs, not scientific..." Read more…
Doug & Jan Parker
Cortez, CO (USA)
practices daily
"People of faith are tasked by God with respecting His creation, and that means all creation, not just the unborn." Read more…
Bruce Chris Sikkema
Minneapolis, MN (USA)
practices weekly
"The deception inherent in addressing the abortion debate is that it is, or should be, about abortion at all." Read more…
Peggy Drake
Pittsburgh, PA (USA)
practices weekly
"Pro-choice is a term that is just fine, one that is pro-life." Read more…
Ellen Huttel
Cottonwood, AZ (USA)
practices weekly
"I'm for pro-choice, not because I agree with women having abortions…" Read more…
Heather Pike
Concord, NH (USA)
practices daily
"I like to think I would be strong enough to live out the rules of my faith. But I don't think I have a right to tell someone else what they must do with their lives." Read more…
Kent Higgins
Charleston, WV (USA)
practices weekly
"This is a moral decision. Surely a moral decision has to be made by the person involved." Read more…
Ellen Chase
Decatur, GA (USA)
"If the child is unwanted and causes an economic, emotional or physical burden, are we not forcing an undesired societal change by encouraging an influx of children who become adults with..." Read more…
Pat Lindgren
Saint Paul, MN (USA)
practices weekly
"Too often people have very shallow opinions on the issue, which usually leads to raised voices and displays of anger when one can't explain one's view in terms of a deep-seated philosophy…" Read more…
Alex Touren
St. Paul, MN (USA)
practices daily
"…this statement offered by television, radio, and the internet casts its shadow over an entire culture of people with no consideration for individual lives…" Read more…
Nan Beamish
Westerville, OH (USA)
practices weekly
""It's positive," the nurse said. "Define 'positive'." "You're pregnant."" Read more…
Jeff Kranz
Davenport, IA (USA)
practices occasionally
"Pro-choice folks tend to look broadly through the decision where pro-life folks frequently take the narrow view." Read more…
Maggie Jay
Memphis, TN (USA)
practices daily
"I would like to hear more about what non-Christian traditions, such as Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu Jain, Native American, Pagan, humanist, etc. have to say on the moral and spiritual questions of..." Read more…
Peyton Moore
Olympia, WA (USA)
"If we approach the issue as a matter of public policy with the goal of reducing abortions through education and prevention then our end result will be morally strong." Read more…
Bob Gregory
Lexington, KY (USA)
practices daily
"I would like to see us talking more about reducing all forms of cruelty to children, including abortion as one but not the only and sometimes perhaps the least cruel of them." Read more…
Anne Eggebroten
Santa Monica, (USA)
practices daily
"Let's talk about how we can do a better job of being pro-child and pro-mother." Read more…
Michelle Schutt
Minneapolis, MN (USA)
practices daily
"If "pro-life" adherents want to get rid of abortion, it would behoove them to have a plan for children who have no family. Who will bring them up?" Read more…
Dale Ryan
Washington, DC (USA)
practices rarely
"…the origins of this conversation should be taken in a historical context." Read more…
Kathy Conway-Thompson
Golden, CO (USA)
practices daily
"Abortion is a distraction from the destruction of lives we consciously take and reshape or destroy on a constant basis." Read more…
Paul Calhoun
Milwaukee, WI (USA)
practices daily
"In my mind the terms "pro-life" or "pro-choice" are simply matters of convenience in an affluent society…" Read more…
Norma Knapp
Alexandria, MN (USA)
practices daily
"…your discussion could be greatly enhanced by delving into the history of abortion and the various churches' history concerning it." Read more…
Carly Maberry
Smith College, Northampton, MA (USA)
practices daily
"As a Catholic, I look to the example of Jesus as well as social justice leaders like Dorothy Day, Daniel Berrigan, and Mollie Rogers (the founder of the Maryknoll Sisters), for inspiration in my..." Read more…
Brian Bruya
Ann Arbor, MI (USA)
practices weekly
"I would like to know more about the social status of miscarried fetuses in pro-life communities." Read more…
Cynthia Bartley
Portland, OR (USA)
practices daily
"If we are all on the same side, it's easier to save lives." Read more…
Judith Dorn
Saint Cloud, MN (USA)
"To me, what is breathtakingly disturbing is the discounting of a wholeness of experience." Read more…
Kevin Lynch
Long Valley, NJ (USA)
practices daily
"There are no guarantees that each pregnancy will result in the birth of a child, or even that that child will be fortunate enough to be cared for after birth." Read more…
E Davis
Wilton, CT (USA)
practices daily
"…most of us are on both sides. One side is not in direct opposition to the other!" Read more…
Edward Helmrich
Larchmont, NY (USA)
practices daily
"I don't see how a Catholic can vote for someone who is pro-choice." Read more…
Dan Molloy
Wakefield, MA (USA)
practices weekly
"I don't have an idea for terms less polarizing than pro-life/choice but would prefer terms that worked at the root cause…" Read more…
Susan Illg
Maplewood, MN (USA)
practices weekly
"I consider myself a pro-life Catholic Democrat." Read more…
James Joyce
Morton,, PA (USA)
practices daily
"I believe our spirit chooses the life into which we incarnate so that our soul can evolve in the way in which it chooses." Read more…
Erik Kingston
Boise, ID (USA)
practices daily
"We spoke at length, not about our differences, but about our mutual interest in reducing unintended pregnancies and abortion." Read more…
Sofie White
Los Angeles, CA (USA)
practices daily
"Everyone I have ever come in contact with that has been pro-choice has never had an abortion." Read more…
Amy Killian
Springfield, VA (USA)
practices weekly
"Having had two children, I understand why people feel that "life begins at conception."" Read more…
Micki Lechner-Riehle
Burnsville, MN (USA)
practices not applicable (n/a)
"I was once at a parent group with parents of children with Down syndrome and they began talking about whether they would have had an abortion had they known early in their pregnancy that their..." Read more…
Peggy Wonder
Staten Island, NY (USA)
practices daily
"Perhaps because my mother is a Holocaust survivor, who fled her persecuted Jewish identity and fell in love with a smaller American Christian church, I feel passionate about this fundamental value..." Read more…
Mary Krane Derr
Chicago, IL (USA)
practices daily
"I have taken pains to develop a political as well as personal stance on abortion that can make sense to people of all faiths and none, and thus is admissible to the public sphere." Read more…
Melissa Balmer
Long Beach, CA (USA)
practices daily
"The current over-the-top sexualizing of youth, most especially young women, with barely a thought to responsibility and ramifications of it leaves me queasy, as queasy as the state of our unwanted..." Read more…
Patrick Moran
Winston-Salem, NC (USA)
practices daily
""Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord," but mercy is enjoined upon all of us." Read more…
David Wilson
Webster Groves, MO (USA)
practices daily
"I believe the role of the state is to support the living, and the more effectively we do that the less there will be an economic reason for a woman to choose abortion." Read more…
Tim Clark
Westfield, IN (USA)
practices daily
"The abortion issue can be resolved through application of the quality leadership paradigm…" Read more…
Marjorie Greenfield
Cleveland, OH (USA)
practices rarely
"There is a difference between feeling that abortion is wrong and making it unavailable and unsafe for others." Read more…
Vivian Campbell
Charlotte, NC (USA)
practices weekly
"…the vehemence hurled at people who get abortions or perform them is not from the spirit of holiness." Read more…
Carol Murray
New Egypt, NJ (USA)
practices not applicable (n/a)
"The pro-life people would better serve society concentrating on the children who are here now with providing a secure environment." Read more…
Armena Marderosian
Ann Arbor, MI (USA)
practices daily
"A woman with child is a woman with a lifetime of care ahead needed for each child. This huge responsibility needs to be chosen, not forced." Read more…
Lee Beaumont
Middletown, NJ (USA)
practices occasionally
"Improving our skills in these areas can lead to more enlightened dialogues on the difficult topic of abortion." Read more…
Jack Kammer
Baltimore, MD (USA)
practices daily
"Pro-choice advocates give women the right to make their own life choices, but they seldom give any consideration to life options for men." Read more…
Sophia Vailakis-Devirgilio
Broad Channel, NY (USA)
practices not applicable (n/a)
"Until we extend the discussion on abortion beyond the action of aborting life, there will be no movement forward." Read more…
Lee Beaumont
Middletown, NJ (USA)
practices occasionally
"While the emergence of self-awareness is extraordinary and awe-inspiring, it is not evidence for a divine soul that can exist without human consciousness." Read more…
Sheila Roth
New York, NY (USA)
"I have had an abortion — after having two children and knowing that I could not handle another." Read more…
Varda Burns
Norwich, VT (USA)
practices never
"Faith has no place in politics or our government." Read more…
Dean Michaels
Los Angeles, CA (USA)
"If abortion is truly murder, how can the overwhelming majority of people favor abortion in the case of rape or incest?" Read more…
Barbara Gellis
Mamaroneck, NY (USA)
practices occasionally
"The issue to me is not when life begins, or even the right to choose. The issue is can our society deal with an existing condition that will not change in a safe, sane manner?" Read more…
April Carlson
Minneapolis, MN (USA)
practices daily
"I believe that it is this notion of a fixed linear view of life that is the heart of this controversy." Read more…
Carlo Vlackmore
Brooklyn, NY (USA)
practices occasionally
"These pro- words seem too innocuous and too easy to do justice to the obvious contention raging in the abortion issue." Read more…
Ariana Coate
Charlottesville, VA (USA)
practices daily
"Can we say that life is sacred and not honor the lives of all people?" Read more…
Samuel Tsoi
Malden, MA (USA)
practices weekly
"If Christians can start walking humbly in this issue, God also has a host of issues He invites us to be co-workers with him on…" Read more…
Ron Weitnauer
Edina, (USA)
practices weekly
"Society's laws have to be purely pragmatic without morality. … Religious laws have to be purely moral without pragmatism." Read more…
Liz Burke
Kent, OH (USA)
practices weekly
"I work at an urban health department now and hear, everyday, the date stamp get put on the paperwork of those who've aborted the week before…" Read more…
Elizabeth Brand
Tryon, NC (USA)
practices never
"I believe that life begins at conception. I also am pro-choice." Read more…
David Henry
Spotsylvania, VA (USA)
practices daily
"It is not always easy to follow Jesus but it is sad when those who claim to bear his name refuse to even try." Read more…
Peter Nichols
Philadelphia, PA (USA)
practices daily
"Besides passion, the thing both sides of this issue seem to have in common is a strong sense of certainty about a subject that is not only complex but shrouded in mystery." Read more…
Patrick Denny
Lowell, MI (USA)
practices daily
"Too many voices push back against a supposed religious intrusion into such a personal issue." Read more…
Lyle Mook
East Greenwich, RI (USA)
practices daily
"As a hospice director and chaplain in the 90's, I often said that…" Read more…
Karen Schuitema
Rochelle Park, NJ (USA)
practices daily
"Spiritually, I believe there is a karmic price to be paid for an abortion, but there is a karmic price for any choice that brings harm to any or all of God's creation. In our choices, there are..." Read more…
Catherine Kimball
Waterville, ME (USA)
practices daily
"I experience women to consistently make choices for themselves and their families that on the balance are life affirming." Read more…
James Poole
Loveland, CO (USA)
practices weekly
"While caring for a disabled child is a tremendous burden (which can be a labor of love), it is playing God to discard such a life as non-optimal." Read more…
Sue Trowbridge
Lees Summit, MO (USA)
practices daily
"I think the term pro-life for someone who wants to control another's life is really not pro-life at all; it is just the opposite." Read more…
Mike Kerrigan
Steamboat Springs, CO (USA)
practices weekly
"Might the pro-life/pro-choice dilemma involve a similar "teleological suspension of the ethical" that Kierkegaard contemplates in his meditation on Abraham's will to slay his son Isaac?" Read more…
Kenneth Pitts
Lincoln University, PA (USA)
practices daily
"I have come to the realization we cannot legislate this morality, it must come from one-on-one interpersonal discussion and understanding." Read more…
Daniel Killman
Nashville, TN (USA)
practices daily
"I feel this way both as a spiritual thinking person and as a loving father who never experienced any greater miracle than the birth of my two children." Read more…
Heidi Knudsen
Whitefish Bay, WI (USA)
practices weekly
"Until men and women abandon the attitude of entitlement that many hold about having free reign to satisfy their sexual urges at will without proper regard for the consequences of these actions, the..." Read more…
Richard Weiss
Valley Stream, NY (USA)
practices daily
"Permitting abortion and accepting homosexuality should be included in that consideration." Read more…
Martin Scanlan
Milwaukee, WI (USA)
practices weekly
"I recognize that simply being against legalized abortion doesn't solve the issue because it fails to recognize the complex factors pushing women to choose abortion, individual and social factors." Read more…
Karen Vaughan
Brooklyn, NY (USA)
practices daily
"When I had an abortion years ago, giving away my flesh and blood was inconceivable…" Read more…
Robert Robideau
Roswell, GA (USA)
practices daily
"When light enters the shell, we are called human…" Read more…
Kelly Ouellette
Milford, NH (USA)
practices weekly
"We are so afraid in this country to deny women of things, God forbid we allow them to choose what to do in this situation even though another human being's life is at stake." Read more…
John Whitney
Rapid City, SD (USA)
practices daily
"What are the 'pro-life' people doing about the spontaneous abortions?" Read more…
Bridget Pilloud
Portland, OR (USA)
practices daily
"I consider myself pro-choice for others, but pro-life for me. If I had an abortion, I think the grief would consume me." Read more…
Pat Powell
Hagerstown, MD (USA)
practices rarely
"And don't forget, Jesus doesn't want us judging others, just helping them." Read more…
Sally Horan
Atlanta, GA (USA)
practices weekly
"…unless you are ready to be an adoptive or foster parent to an unwanted baby, then you have no right to render an opinion at all." Read more…
Joanne Francis
Washington, DC (USA)
practices daily
"…my energies and money would be better spent on supporting programs that support healthy pregnancies and children than on opposing abortion." Read more…
Nicole Lynch
Vancouver, WA (USA)
practices not applicable (n/a)
"…abortion should not be a shameful thing." Read more…
Thomas Klevorn
Plymouth, MN (USA)
practices weekly
"As we talk about abortion, I think a discussion of the criminal aspects of "pro-choice" and "pro-life" positions is essential." Read more…
Ronda Harper
Dundee, MI (USA)
practices rarely
"Morally, abortion is very bad; adoption would be a much better choice. Morally, being a terrible parent is bad also though." Read more…
Sue Szymanski
Dexter, MI (USA)
practices weekly
"Respect for life is not just for the unborn, which is why I could not choose a candidate solely on one issue, even one as emotionally charged as this one." Read more…
Jeff Agnew
Davison, MI (USA)
practices daily
"I assume that those who disagree with me have a conscience and I appeal to it, and I speak truth to power." Read more…
Sharone Belt
Gaithersburg, MD (USA)
practices daily
"I used to be very militant in my advocacy for the unborn." Read more…
Dale Nelson
Edwards, CO (USA)
"If you believe that someone who has an abortion puts their salvation in jeopardy, what about free will?" Read more…
Nancy Mendenhall
Fort Collins, CO (USA)
practices daily
"How can I possibly hold them to a standard I have set for myself, when I would most certainly fall short of that standard if I were in their shoes?" Read more…
Patty Maher
Villa Park, IL (USA)
practices rarely
"Conservative ideology — every person for themselves — makes for a harsher world…" Read more…
Jeanne Beitscher
Breckenridge, CO (USA)
practices occasionally
"We do need to invoke words like "privilege of parenting" and "responsible sex" instead of the continual tug-of-war concerning who has the most rights." Read more…
Dennis Wyszynski
Carmel, CA (USA)
"No story, just a position. Since, according to research, 50 percent (or more) of the times conception occurs it either does not take, or aborts itself. So, many of us declare that a baby becomes a..." Read more…
Edie Deweese
Allenspark, CO (USA)
practices not applicable (n/a)
"I would like to see the two sides turned around and expressed as "for illegal abortion" and "anti illegal abortion."" Read more…
Pat Rudolph
Canton, SD (USA)
practices daily
"I believe that both "pro-life" and "pro-choice" people hate abortion." Read more…
Doug Kallas
Spanish Fork, UT (USA)
practices daily
"If a 16-year-old girl is pregnant and not married, who is obligated to help in raising this child?" Read more…
Katharine Deiss
Spencerport, NY (USA)
practices daily
"I prefer to let a deity make these judgments until I am absolutely not a part of other killing such as war or the death penalty." Read more…
James Van Der Pol
Kerkhoven, MN (USA)
practices never
"The political pilgrimage to Terry Schiavo's bedside a few years ago brought this issue into focus." Read more…
Richard Salazar
Dekalb, IL (USA)
"I've seen the pictures, worked with post-abortive traumatized men and women, and continue to pray for its end." Read more…
Marguerite Oetting
Iowa City, IA (USA)
practices weekly
"Let's stop hiding behind the "abortion" issue and ask ourselves how we are going to deal with the problems that create such crisis for women that sometimes abortion seems like the only way out." Read more…
Terre Barklage
Dardenne Prairie, MO (USA)
practices daily
"Either you believe in the sanctity of life in all forms or you don't!" Read more…
Margaret Gilman
Rutland, VT (USA)
practices daily
"…while I still think abortion is not a good solution to a very difficult challenge, I accept that each of us walks a uniquely individual path filled with Divine Grace and Guidance." Read more…
Sara Breeze
Bemidji, MN (USA)
practices weekly
"Abortion should not be a legislated — period." Read more…
Pete Kraus
Lilburn, GA (USA)
practices daily
"Understanding that thoughtful advocates on both sides of the argument share common philosophical precepts is an important step towards dialogue." Read more…
Samuel Conner
Vineland, NJ (USA)
"The great objection of Evangelical pro-choicers is that the principal concern of "pro-life" believers is to stop abortion, and that there is little concern for families in distress." Read more…
John Niederhauser
Birch Run, MI (USA)
"I agree there is a moral and ethical element to this issue, but we also need to reframe that part, not just as the domain of faith or religion…" Read more…
Amy Brereton
Annaopolis, MD (USA)
practices daily
"Let me begin by putting myself in a box. I am a passionate Christian who considers the sanctity of life to be the most important political issue. I am also a registered Democrat. It's a lonely box." Read more…
Chris Williams
Sunrise, FL (USA)
practices daily
"Let's not look at "pro-life" and "pro-choice" as polarizing but complementary of each other." Read more…
Marie Conn
Hatboro, PA (USA)
practices not applicable (n/a)
"Many cultures and religious traditions have a teaching about when human life begins; these differ so widely…" Read more…
Susan Stein
Philadelphia, PA (USA)
practices weekly
"I often feel left out of what is a debate among Christians." Read more…
Flint Webb
Vienna, VA (USA)
practices rarely
"…life begins at conception, but human life does not." Read more…
Lee Dexter
Birmingham, AL (USA)
practices rarely
"Unless and until journalists and politicians as well as anyone who wants to have a thoughtful and intelligent conversation about this begins speaking about privacy, the polarization and vehemence..." Read more…
Deborah Moss
Los Gatos, CA (USA)
practices weekly
"Japanese women often participate in Jizo ceremonies to honor and ask for assistance for the souls of their water children who were lost to abortion." Read more…
Loren Landis
Brattleboro, VT (USA)
practices monthly
"…any discussion of the termination of a life in utero, whenever it starts, be coupled with the death penalty question." Read more…
Rae Spencer
Minneapolis, MN (USA)
practices daily
"I wonder where the men are in this conversation." Read more…
Kellie Scott-Reed
Fairport, NY (USA)
practices weekly
"I only question the intent of a political party who trolls out the abortion and gay rights issues every four years and then, alas, does nothing about it." Read more…
Lori Rubeling
Emmitsburg, MD (USA)
practices not applicable (n/a)
"The apparent absence of women's stories, of their personal intersections with choice, in the political dialog is the problem." Read more…
George Wells
Dover, NJ (USA)
practices daily
"There is a presumption that they do, but there are a lot of unwanted children in this world — I know because I am one of them." Read more…
Pat Murphy
Hendersonville, NC (USA)
practices daily
"There is the whole to be uplifted not just a fragment." Read more…
Walter Mead
Bloomington, IL (USA)
practices daily
"I worry about the apparent increasing insensitivity of large numbers of people in our society … to the wonder and mystery of life…" Read more…
Sharon Mcdonnell
Peacham, VT (USA)
practices daily
"I wish we could offer each other the kindness of respectful listening." Read more…
Jim Flesher
Greeley, CO (USA)
"If the goal is to reduce the number of abortions, shouldn't we start with making sure pregnant women have health insurance and health care?" Read more…
Nicoline Smits
Ellicott City, MD (USA)
"…the debate about abortion in this country is driven entirely too much by religion." Read more…
Justin Knapp
Indianapolis, IN (USA)
practices not applicable (n/a)
"Both of these camps need to understand how the other frames the debate so they are not talking past one another…" Read more…
Al Milligan
Minburn, IA (USA)
practices daily
"The politics of life ought to involve the protection of the rights of the living." Read more…
Anne Nagel
Grand Rapids, MI (USA)
practices not applicable (n/a)
"Why can't our priorities be for existing life and not potential life." Read more…
Adena Cohen-Bearak
Needham, MA (USA)
practices weekly
"If abortion hadn't been available to us an an option, my son wouldn't be here today." Read more…
Daniel Schultz
South Haven, MN (USA)
"Dear SOF, there is bad news for you and good news for you. First, there can be no subjectivistic solution to these ethical problems. Your efforts, unfortunately, will be largely in vain because..." Read more…
Judi Iverson-Gilbert
Fort Collins, CO (USA)
practices daily
"Whenever individual convenience and choice is the top value, the society is in fatal trouble." Read more…
Michelle Wren
Washington, DC (USA)
practices daily
"I didn't want to be wondering "what if"…" Read more…
Patricia Forbes
Anchorage, AK (USA)
practices not applicable (n/a)
"No one can place themselves in the position of making that decision for another person." Read more…
Pam Berry
Louisville, KY (USA)
practices daily
"In my Church's social teaching, it is a seamless garment from cradle to grave." Read more…
Helen Seek
Jefferson, MD (USA)
practices not applicable (n/a)
"God is good to have given us the intelligence and means to make the better of two bad choices." Read more…
Carol Osip
Henderson, NV (USA)
practices not applicable (n/a)
"To me, the question comes down to that of free will." Read more…
Betty Neville Michelozzi
Aptos, CA (USA)
practices daily
"…if abortion is murder, what would be the penalty?" Read more…
Helen Jun
ST Louis, MO (USA)
practices daily
"…sometimes people are not pro-life; they are only pro-birth." Read more…
Miriam Pickens
Hancock, MI (USA)
practices weekly
"Does pro-life just mean pro-infant life?" Read more…
Lee Charles
Atlanta, GA (USA)
practices daily
"…ultimately it comes back to the extent of the relationship with God." Read more…
Michael Hayes
, MN (USA)
practices daily
"…one of the least helpful questions is, "When does life begin?"" Read more…
Amy Bostwick
Cedar Rapids, IA (USA)
practices occasionally
"…we should do all we can to help the child medically and find the child a good home" Read more…
Robin Rusboldt
Bennett, WI (USA)
practices not applicable (n/a)
"I don't think that having an abortion is a moral or spiritual issue." Read more…
Nicole Schmidt
Sartell, MN (USA)
practices daily
"It is a personal decision between the woman and her Maker." Read more…
