‘Sex’ is a lot more then a penis penetrating a vagina. I can think of all sorts of really fun sexual activities that would never result in a pregnancy. Bristol still seems totally unaware of what it means to have a healthy, full sex life. It occurs to me that it’s not too late for her mom to have a talk with her…

No grown woman or man is suddenly going to look like a pre-adolescent child no matter how much body hair they remove. I’m really, really sick of that argument. It’s insulting and bizarre.

It’s hard to imagine what the response of a ‘right-to-lifer’ might be after reading this article. And then I hear from some of them. And I’m sitting at my desk crying at work. How could anyone read this article and walk away with anything but a sense of ‘there but for the grace of God go I’? What on earth is wrong with people? I can’t even fathom it.

I wish I had the energy to argue with people – but I just feel too heartsick.

I’m 6 1/2 months pregnant. I can tell you for a fact that my first ultrasound was just a happy heart beat. I’m 35 so I’m considered ‘high risk’ and went through all the genetic counseling up to, but not including, the amino. I’m going to admit I’m not a doctor and don’t really understand a lot of the tests I was given (I still don’t know what a ‘fragile X’ is except that I don’t have it) but what I can tell you is this: if I was going to get bad news it would have happened a month ago (18-20 weeks) when I got my full scan. Everything previous to that would have only been an indicator. And how long do you think it would have taken me to get to one of these very rare LTA providers if something was horribly wrong with my pregnancy? I’m going to guess at least a month. That would put me at 24 weeks – and that’s from someone with really great insurance, a boss who lets me schedule my appointments whenever I like, money to travel and a doctor who is head of obstetrics at a major NYC hospital. I can easily see how 28 weeks can pass.

Knowing where my body is right now, feeling my baby inside of me I can’t imagine what it would be like to know my child was so sick, so deformed that I couldn’t keep him. My heat goes out to these woman and the children they so dearly wanted to have. You think that you can show a gruesome clip and think that it’s enough for me to force my child into a short, painful existence? I’d claw you or anyone else to pieces to prevent that, I’d lay down and die myself to prevent his suffering.

Something is broken inside you that you can’t put yourself into a situation like the ones discussed in this article. I hope to God you never find yourself in a hopeless situation like so many women have had to suffer through – because you’d apparently torture your own baby to suit your politics.

It should be against the law to willfully, or through negligence, pass HIV on to your child. I think this judge is correct: it becomes a public health issue and is about more then the original charges. I’m really interested to see what happens to this case on appeal.

But I would like to know what the ACLU is up to on this one. Who exactly do they think they’re protecting?

Even very beautiful antique rings by famous jewelers with great big stones don’t have much of a resale value in the very best of economic times – if you doubt this advice go get it appraised at a couple of places and see for yourself. Diamonds have almost no resale value. Unless you’ve got a very important ring on your hand that plan isn’t going to work. And if you do have a very important ring on your hand your family would be justified to be furious with you for parting with it. If I was your sister, cousin or daughter (yes, she’ll be angry too in a few years) I’d be livid and the very last thing you need is more family drama. And forget about help from dad too – he sounds like a roadblock at the moment (although I’ll bet he comes around after the fact).

If I was in this situation I’d make sure I had the title to the car I drive in my name, I’d have a credit card in my own name (I’d get a PO Box to use as a mailing address), I’d have some spending cash tucked away, I’d have spoken to a women’s shelter and a lawyer (one not associated with my dad) and I’d be looking into job opportunities and cheap, cheerful apartments – and then, when I was ready, I’d just clear out the joint checking and savings and I’d be gone before anyone knew what I was even up to. Well – maybe I’d let the police know what I was up to so they’d have a squad car nearby if I planned on taking anything big from the house on moving day. You just need to put one foot in front of the other and do it without giving any indication to your husband or father that anything has changed. The time for talk is over – it’s time for quiet, deliberate action.