privately handling the issue at home is far favored to walking into the local abortion clinic in broad daylight

I read the NY Times article yesterday and take exceptiion with this. A friend of mine is a women's health NP in Washington Heights (who speaks fluent Spanish, along with most - if not all - of her coworkers). There is a women's health clinic up there which is affiliated with Columbia University. That clinic provides women with all of their OB/GYN needs. They do all kinds of women's health care, including prenatal and postnatal care. Many of their clients are pregnant and they are cared for through pregnancy and birth. If a young woman walked into that clinic pregnant, she would not be seen as 'entering an abortion clinic.' She could make an appointment, find out if she is pregnant and ask about ending the pregnancy inside the office, away from the people in the waiting room. She would be given counseling and support no matter what she chooses. If she chooses an abortion, nobody in the neighborghood would know. The young woman could easily say she was pregnant, was going to to the clinic for prenatal care but had a miscarriage.

It's easy for some people to spread -- let's call them "misconceptions" in light of the subject -- about what services are available to them. The women's claim of having to walk into "an abortion clinic" is completely untrue. The women's health clinics in the area are mostly used for pregnancy care, the workers at those clinics make it perfectly clear that they offer contraceptive options and they discretely let patients know that abortion is an available option for unwanted pregnancies, and that nobody in the neighborhood will know they are going to have, or have had, an abortion.

Just wanted to clear that up. It's easy to make it look like you "can't" have a medically overseen abortion when you really can, but you just don't want to.

referred to in the article and in the study are not in the Dominican Republic. They are in Washington Heights in New York City. They are near Columbia University. There are women's health clinics in that area that are geared toward their community.

It is unclear in some of the letters I've read that this fact is understood. I thought perhaps some responders might be thinking the women are still in the Dominican Republic.

who is trying to return to the workforce after a 10 year hiatus raising children. I am in my 50s. It's not going well. I have impressive credentials, certifications, licenses, degrees and experience but it's all more than 10 years old and I'm up against 35 year olds with the same credentials and fresher experience. It's tough and it may not work out. Do I regret adopting? Maybe. It may result in my financial ruin. But I can't blame the employers who would rather employ someone with fresher experience. It makes sense for them to do that.

But hey, I worked at my profession for 20 years. I worked while getting my degrees and certifications. And I wasn't taking courses at Sotheby's or the Metropolitan Museum, I was doing it in universities. Caroline Kennedy dabbled in this and that, got a law degree for the hell of it and got her mother's friends to help her write some books.

Sorry, I don't want to be compared with her. Not unless I can call David Paterson and ask to be appointed senator. At least I've voted for the past 20 years.

my accountant, who encouraged me to put all my money in one place

What kind of accountant encouraged you to put all your money in one place? I've never heard of such a thing. No financial professional should give that advice. Is your accountant a real MBA, certified and all? Or does s/he just go by that designation ... "accountant".... casually?