A reader writes:
I found the testimonial on serial abortions deeply hypocritical. Here is one woman condemning another woman for having six abortions when she herself has gotten pregnant at least six times, knowing that each fetus had a 66% of miscarriage. Furthermore, she fully expects her daughter to make the same choice -- to continue getting pregnant as often as possible in the hopes of eventually having a live baby. I'll stress that I don't think she made the "wrong" choice, but she did make an explicit decision that the conception and subsequent death of four fetuses was worth the births of two babies. How is that somehow more noble than a woman accidentally becoming pregnant and then aborting the fetus? The woman seeking her seventh abortion almost certainly didn't intentionally become pregnant, while the woman suffering her fourth miscarriage did -- despite the risks and the knowledge that she might well be creating a child just to let it die. If the question is one of responsible behavior, I'm not certain you can logically decide between these two choices.
But reproductive choice isn't about responsibility. It's fundamental to human liberty exactly because the stakes are so high, so personal, so deeply felt and so resistant to philosophical, legal and moral theorizing. Every person has a right to decide for herself when to become pregnant, why to become pregnant and what to do after becoming pregnant. But casting judgment on the "irresponsible" behavior of others while turning a blind eye to the moral complications of one's own position is hardly laudable, or even useful in the abortion discussion.