Three Things 9/2/2021

Regarding Texas: I’m so angry today.

From The Buried: An Archeology of the Egyptian Revolution by Peter Hessler

Hessler is making a case that a significant reason for the failure of Egyptian governments is because citizens are not looking for competent political leaders. They vote for men who lambast the “corruption and immorality” of present leaders. They vote for those who promise a “return to our traditional Islamist values.”

1. At Wheaton College in the early 70’s I was friends with D. She told me that over sophomore Christmas break she had had an abortion. She and her boyfriend had been together for a year. “We never went all the way because we knew we were supposed to wait for marriage.”

But they went pretty far and yes, one can get pregnant if they are unclothed and very, very close.  She said that the abortion is what broke her hymen. 

Abortion was not legal that year, 1972. Her rich, Southern evangelical Christian parents took her to a women’s health clinic in Pennsylvania where abortion was legal and safe.

She and that boy broke up later. He was very celebrated on campus for his good looks and creativity. I remember that.

2. I worked in the credit department at Marshall Field’s in Chicago where I met people who would influence my whole life. L was one of them. She was in her 40’s, had luscious wavy auburn hair, and always wore pretty dresses and low heels. Occasionally we took our coffee break together. One morning we were talking about romance and boyfriends and my life and hers. More about me than her because she was such a good listener. It was easy to make her laugh.

That morning, when I asked why she hadn’t had kids, she said that she had had an illegal 'botched abortion' in her twenties in the 1960’s. She almost bled to death. She went to a hospital where they saved her life but not her uterus. This lovely nurturing women never had children because she hadn’t had access to a safe medical procedure.

3. I have more stories and so do you. Today, in light of Texas’ new, draconian law, many of us are remembering our friends’ stories, our relatives’ stories, and our stories.

Send money to Planned Parenthood or some other pro-women organization. And then take care of yourself.