Think of what women would gain if midwifes and home birth were more accepted. The medical profession and insurance companies have resisted them and here we are. Only women who have high-risk pregnancy should be treated like they have a disease. Women should take back this natural process augmented by all the medical science has learned about a safe birth. Let's combine science with the experience and care of midwifery. This may turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

This kind of event, which there are thousands going on all over the world, should wake up American women. Our freedom is a rarity and an oddity in history. It makes me sad that we use our freedom to make sure we have a morning after pill instead working for women in the world. Until women are free all over the world we are not truly free here. There is a global war on women and we are in a fragile situation ourselves.

It seems that somebody is always trying to prove how women really are just better suited to be mothers more than anything else. We are told that we can't take the heat, or we are driven to pursue domestic bliss, or change diapers. Maybe women know when to say enough to demands of the marketplace, something men need to learn to do. What needs to change here is not women but society's expectations of work and career. Enough already!

It's fashionable to bash Christianity and to highlight many of its developed misogyny, yet in the pagan culture in which Christianity arose it was an exception when it came to women. Read Rodney Stark's " The Rise of Christianity." Early Christians took upon themselves to rescue infant girls from exposure and women joined the new religion because of its view of marriage, one in which the woman had equal sexual and divorce rights. Then there are the annoying Christian missionaries, like Amy Carmichael who devoted her life to saving girls from temple prostitution in India.

When Christianity is true to its roots it's a great liberating force for women. When it adopts the surrounding cultures attitudes it loses it power. Today cultures that benefited from early Christian influence remain the most women positive in the world. Think about it.

"Freebirthing" is insanity. I am all for a more woman friendly childbirth but this is out to lunch. I think what has happened is that women have forgotten how many women have died in childbirth for centuries. Our low maternal death rate is due to medical advances. I'll give you home birth, no problem. But unassisted birth is not only dangerous but unnatural. Why? Because the community has always been involved in the birthing process - a midwife, a neighbor, or your mother. This is a fad that won't last. I hope.

When are we going to stop talking about women and mommy wars and start talking about what will make a difference - a change in they way men view work and family. Why is it that all these "soft" issues are viewed as women's issues? Aren't men invested in their families? Until men become full partners in parenting we will keep reading these books.