Years ago I saw a news magazine piece on women from Cambodia who became blind after personally witnessing the events of the Killing Fields.

I hate it that some people seem to think that human beings can withstand anything and their minds remain intact. This is so obviously not true. I imagine the macho aspects of war culture make it especially hard on our servicemen and women to deal with their emotions.

In my experience, you either deal emotionally when crap happens or you pay (in some form) later.

I opposed the current Iraq War from the get go, but it makes me absolutely furious when I read about Walter Reed and the military trying to certify people as ready to return to combat who are in fact still dealing with serious injuries. I fear this war and its repurcussions are only going to get nastier as the U.S. becomes more divided in the coming election year.

Also, Vets always get screwed over in the end. Years ago there was no DSM diagnosis of PTSD. Now the military and The Veteran's Administration will have to deal with the aftermath. They are already cutting corners. I suspect PTSD and traumatic brain injury will become an issue similar to Agent Orange after Vietnam.

I have some experience working with disabled people in employment. I can tell you that even educated vocational counselors, who should know better, sometimes treat people with mental health problems as if it is "all in their heads." Private insurers do not deliver anything near parity for people with mental health problems compared to people with physical health problems.

Hmm. I am probably not telling some people here anything they don't already know.

You said: "The problem began when he advised her not to have her tubes tied. Then, when the Dr. and her husband advised her not to get a hysterectomy. Now, she's pregnant. Is her body ever her own?"

Please turn this around so that she has some responsibility. The problem began when (she) decided not to have her tubes tied, when she decided not to have a hysterectomy. The more potent question might be "Is her mind never her own?"

For the government not to intervene in a woman's reproductive choices means that she gets the freedom to decide. That her husband's opinion would count with her is what reasonable marriages are about. The government does not regulate this private discussion. But her doctor? Come on! There are other doctors. In her relationship with her husband, when does she get to be a big girl and not a child bride? Where was her back up birth control? The mere fact that she has endo and that it is literally a pain but she did not choose the hysterectomy option earlier indicates ambivilance on her part. Whatever she decides, she has an abortion scheduled. All she has to do is go through with it.

Freedom of choice does not mean freedom from social opinion. It does not mean spouses will not speak their opinions. It does not mean doctors may not agree with you. It means standing up and looking people in the eye and making your own damn decisions. You show me a woman who is legally being kept from making this choice and I will be on her side -- maybe even by her side.

What does the LW do? She asks Cary! In all due respect, he's a guy! As far as I know, he doesn't even have kids. If you ask for opinions, you get opinions.

Three years down the road, she should not be trying to say that, whatever the outcome, somebody made her decision for her. This would be a lie. She makes the decision.

When will women learn that, to some extent, asking for the opinions of others on such an intimate issue means not taking the responsibility yourself? Ultimately, she should make this decision in such a way that she can look herself in the mirror with her shoulders back and say: "I was not a coward!" There is no greater self-esteem builder.

I am not sure what you mean by the terms "safe and holding environment." Could you define or expand upon that for this layperson?