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conulyhttp://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/15/magazine/15LETTERS.html
They've got responses!
When One Is Enough
I found the Lives column about Amy Richards (July 18) thought-provoking, and I anticipated letters to the editor (Aug. 1) decrying her choice. I expected that there would be those in the pro- and anti-choice camps who would express outrage, or at least discomfort, with her decision.
Delighted as I am to be the new mother of twins, I find raising multiples extremely challenging. Would I have reduced the number had I discovered that I was carrying triplets instead of twins? I don't know and am glad I didn't have to make that decision. Ultimately, I believe that Richards's choice to bear only as many children as she felt she could raise was more responsible than that of those who, as a result of fertility treatments, find themselves pregnant with extremely high-order multiples and do not reduce, claiming that this was what God intended.
Rachael Perkins Arenstein
Scarsdale, N.Y.
I was greatly disturbed by the response to the essay on Amy Richards. A letter writer declared herself no longer pro-choice. Would she deny all women the right to control their reproduction (and so, their lives) because she disapproves of some women's decisions? Must women submit their reproductive choices to the court of public opinion?
Laura Kaminker
New York
My heart sank to see the response to Amy Richards's article, although I had struggled with my own discomfort in reaction to her story. In my nearly 10 years working with women facing unplanned pregnancies, I have seen many decide to have an abortion because they were carrying multiple pregnancies and did not feel able to cope. Yet until I read this piece, I had never met or heard of a woman who chose not to abort all of the multiples. Would those who oppose Richards's decision prefer that she had taken this more common route?
It is easy and perhaps human to judge another person's choices when they differ from our own. But it is essential to remember that once a woman finds herself pregnant, there is no turning back. And a woman must weigh her options in light of the unique circumstances of her own life and values.
Unless we are willing to make abortion illegal under all circumstances, we have to accept that there will be times when we will disagree with a woman's decision to have an abortion, or find her reasons for it insufficient or even abhorrent.
Jennifer Parker
San Francisco
They've got responses!
When One Is Enough
I found the Lives column about Amy Richards (July 18) thought-provoking, and I anticipated letters to the editor (Aug. 1) decrying her choice. I expected that there would be those in the pro- and anti-choice camps who would express outrage, or at least discomfort, with her decision.
Delighted as I am to be the new mother of twins, I find raising multiples extremely challenging. Would I have reduced the number had I discovered that I was carrying triplets instead of twins? I don't know and am glad I didn't have to make that decision. Ultimately, I believe that Richards's choice to bear only as many children as she felt she could raise was more responsible than that of those who, as a result of fertility treatments, find themselves pregnant with extremely high-order multiples and do not reduce, claiming that this was what God intended.
Rachael Perkins Arenstein
Scarsdale, N.Y.
I was greatly disturbed by the response to the essay on Amy Richards. A letter writer declared herself no longer pro-choice. Would she deny all women the right to control their reproduction (and so, their lives) because she disapproves of some women's decisions? Must women submit their reproductive choices to the court of public opinion?
Laura Kaminker
New York
My heart sank to see the response to Amy Richards's article, although I had struggled with my own discomfort in reaction to her story. In my nearly 10 years working with women facing unplanned pregnancies, I have seen many decide to have an abortion because they were carrying multiple pregnancies and did not feel able to cope. Yet until I read this piece, I had never met or heard of a woman who chose not to abort all of the multiples. Would those who oppose Richards's decision prefer that she had taken this more common route?
It is easy and perhaps human to judge another person's choices when they differ from our own. But it is essential to remember that once a woman finds herself pregnant, there is no turning back. And a woman must weigh her options in light of the unique circumstances of her own life and values.
Unless we are willing to make abortion illegal under all circumstances, we have to accept that there will be times when we will disagree with a woman's decision to have an abortion, or find her reasons for it insufficient or even abhorrent.
Jennifer Parker
San Francisco
