Sue

I was a fundamentalist Christian for many years, trying so hard to adhere to all the rules and regulations—which in themselves create so much of the hypocrisy people cannot help but live, since following the Bible literally is impossible and inhuman. So, my story has to do with all those well-meaning people standing in front of family planning clinics with posters intimidating the women who are trying to enter the premises to do the only thing anyone can do constructively, which is to save a life—theirs.

“Trying to direct the personal lives of strangers is the height of audacity.”

I know these are not evil people, but trying to direct the very personal lives of strangers over an issue they have neither scientific nor moral proof to reference, is the height of audacity.

Perhaps this isn’t the “story” you are looking for, but I thank God (in whom I still believe, despite the damage done by fundamentalist doctrines) that I now feel free to get a divorce, to not spank my children, to not tell others they are headed for hell, and to get a damn abortion if I ever need one.

Many of my friends and family have had abortions, felt guilty and terrible about themselves for years, and lost the joy of their lives—over what? Someone else’s idea that they know about this stuff. They don’t. No one knows because there is still no way to prove when a zygote becomes a person.

Thanks for letting me state my case.