LOVED THIS... and I completely agree. I've already started saying many of these things to my teenage daughter.

Nice piece... and I would help you daughter make her own choices if I knew her. :)

I am so sorry, but this piece is so bleeding heart. I have three teenage daughters. I am well aware of all the challenges. My daughters know of their choices! if you were that close to your daughter she would come to YOU. Shame on you if she needs to hold a stranger's hand! Such s sappy piece!

in all fairness, let her watch as they turn her embryo into soup and remove it.

I love how she mentions "I hope to God". I am pretty sure God doesn't approve of abortion at all. And for the agnostics and atheists who revel in their pragmatism, when is it ever good to kill a baby?

It does not surprise me to hear the focus shifted from my daughter's autonomy to the putative rights of a being that doesn't, as yet, exist.

Thumbs up.

Jenni, your writing style was horrible....run on...blah blah blah...don't assume...don't assume.....don't assume. It was torturous to read. Do this for my daughter, do that for your daughter...the only thing you left out was giving the girl a lollipop after the procedure. Maybe that's one thing you can do! No one expects kids to go to parents with EVERY challenge, but gosh darn if they can't come to you for abortion support. Shame on YOU! Btw...do you work at planned Parenthood?

Also, the focus quickly shifted from your daughter's autonomy because the focus of the article seemed to be what a fabulous evolved mother YOU are! Look at me...look how selfless "I" am! You mentioned yourself 6 times in the first paragraph!

Beth, how thick are YOU? Who said EVERYTHING?! You are going off the rails...focus! The TOPIC is abortion. I do have daughters and we have discussed the
topic for YEARS! I have 2 children in their early 20s and 2 teenagers! Been there...done it. You have to lay the groundwork for YEARS! I still say you didn't do your job if your daughter is in that predicament and she feels that she can't come to you!

Easy does it there. I am well aware of the focus, thanks. Just commenting. Since you already have experience, you know that sometimes kids make poor decisions (and don't come to you) , but that doesn't mean you are a bad parent. And, I never said you were thick-thanks though, I have been accused of that in the past.

The topic is reproductive rights. Abortion is one piece - but only one piece - of that. Maybe it would mean I haven't done my job if she can't talk to me, but why she should suffer for that?

I apologize, but believe it or not you did it again. You are generalizing! I am STRICTLY referring to abortion. I am not saying you are a BAD parent, but I would say you failed in that regard! None of us are perfect parents, but in the case of a girl making a HUGE decision such as abortion, her mom SHOULD be someone she feels she can go to no matter what the mother's personal choice would be. I went to 12 yrs. of Catholic school and taught in Catholic school. My girls knew what my belief was in regard to Abortion, but KNEW if they were in that situation, the choice was theirs! I would be there to support them no matter what! I would never want them to go through that without me being the one to hold their hand and hug them! I laid the groundwork for YEARS!

That's great, it sounds like we agree on being there for our children if and when they need us. Yes, I did generalize, but abortion and reproductive rights and discussions are all a part of my generalization. I hope to provide my children with all of the information they need when it comes time for making the decision to have sex with someone and I too, hope they feel comfortable enough coming to me if they need to talk about it. I don't think I have failed as a parent in that area if they don't talk to me about it, though. And, I am happy you have been able to establish the trust and respect for your kids to come to you if and when these discussions need to happen.

Beth, maybe I shouldn't have generalized. I should have said I would feel that I failed in some way if on an issue as big as abortion my daughter felt like she couldn't come to me. It saddened me that a young girl would wind up holding a stranger's hand or driving across state lines with a stranger.

Jill, the whole point is that it's *not* a stranger. My daughter is blessed to have many loving adults in her life beyond her parents. I am doing everything I can to help her feel she can talk to me; I am laying the groundwork. I have been doing that since she was born. But that may not be enough. If indeed she needs to go to someone else for help with birth control, I will feel very sad - but I will also be relieved that someone else was there and my daughter got what she needed, because in the end that's more important than my feelings.

Jenni, like I said, we are on two different planets. I wouldn't classify just any "adult in my daughter's life" as someone I want guiding her. That is what you said, " If you are an adult in my daughter's life". We are just two very different people. You were specific when you referred to someone else holding her hand or hugging her during her abortion. Now you are changing your words acting as though you were referring to birth control. I could care less about birth control. You included abortion in your original writing....driving across state lines etc... Look at your title....40th Anniversary of Roe! Your whole first paragraph was about abortion. Enough already, try rereading your column with an objective eye.

Jill, it's reproductive rights, and access to abortion is a big part of that. You accused me of thinking only of myself, and what I hear you saying is that your primary concern is what *you* want for your daughters - not their actual experience. We may be on different planets and we certainly are different people. I trust we're each doing our best. I hope that commenting here has been in some way helpful to you.

I am pro-choice for many reasons, not the least of which is that legalized abortion saves women's lives; there's solid epidemiological data to prove that. I trust that those of you who want abortion criminalized and who equate it to murder are working diligently to provide low-cost or free contraception to everyone who needs it, because there's also solid evidence that such access markedly reduces abortion rates. If your goal really is to stop abortions, that's the way to do it.

Jenni, where the hell did I say I didn't believe in a woman's right to choose? I also said that my daughters would make THEIR own choice you fool. Way to make assumptions! Maybe you should refer to my posts to Beth you idiot! Also, I did not say you were thinking of yourself ONLY. I said the article seemed to be more about YOU...not ONLY!

Jill, those are in two separate comments because the second comment isn't addressed to you. I think we're done; I don't generally keep talking to people who call me "idiot" and "fool".

Reference my 1:00 and 2:32 posts.

No offense Jill, but you don't seem like a very approachable person. I trust that you are much more respectful to your children and they feel more comfortable talking to you about difficult subjects.

Jenni, It is obvious that unless I tell you how great your column is, I should keep my opinion to myself! Consider it done. Beth, after reading your post I told you I should have limited my opinion to my own daughters. Wow, someone walking back what they said and admitting they might have overreached. I don't recall seeing too much of that on Patch. I am sorry that seems unapproachable to you. Hint...when you start a sentence with no offense...usually what follows is offensive.

Thanks for the tip-kinda knew that. I will leave it at that. We have gotten way off topic and I just don't feel entertaining your "arguments" anymore.

Funny how some people view other people's honest opinions as arguments when you don't agree with them. Have a good night ladies! <3

I am sorry I had to clarify my point so often. I felt that you and Jenni kept misrepresenting what I was saying. I don't like people putting words in my mouth and saying i said things i didn't, which seems to happen a lot here on Patch. People hear certain things and jump to certain conclusions about people...henceforth Jenni assuming I didn't support a woman's right to choose. I was deeply offended. I refuse to judge someone else in that regard. It is a very serious issue which woman need to decide on their own. I know it is a heart wrenching decision. I am sorry I had the nerve to think this piece was over the top, now I know why Chelsea made her point and moved on. She must be experienced on how Patch works. Lesson learned!

As a 17 year old college freshman on this date 40 years ago, I thought this ruling was pretty cool - after all, it could have solved a future potential problem, especially since in my state 18 year olds had also just been gained the right to buy alcohol legally a few days before! Remember, though, I was just a kid then.

Thanks for a great article, Jenni! My mom and I were and are close, but I would never have gone to her at 17 to talk to her about sex. Ewwww! But the folks at Planned Parenthood were great, and I support them to this day. There may have been some negative comments, but on the upside, lots of people read the article. You go, girl!

Jenni, how much did you pay Linda for her post?

Wall St...Did you ever abort ??My guess is no because if you did you would never discuss this issue on an internet blog. You wouldn't be out here arguing your point because you would have to look in the mirror everday knowing that your Doctor just flushed little Wall St. junior down the toilet. I'm not telling you what to do and what your rights are but any woman with a conscious or soul cannot hide behind the veil of the law and tell me that after an abortion they feel relieved or happy. The guilt i'm sure is overwhelming. I know several woman who aborted and cry everytime they see a baby .Even though abortion is the law,a woman's emotional makeup naturally will kick in when a event of this nature takes place .If you feel Guilt then nature is telling you something is inheritently wrong with the law. Thats pure logic.The two woman I know that aborted have tremendous bouts of guilt.

And that, Joe, is the issue that is never talked about. The lasting guilt...And the fact that many people who are Pro-Choice now once had abortions and know about all sides fro first hand experience. It is an easy and legal way out with lasting consequences that are never talked about.
...

Rosemary and Joe, you are wrong. The "lasting consequences" are talked about far too much given that they don't exist for most women. Abortion does not cause breast cancer and it does not cause overwhelming guilt. There are good studies that prove this, despite your anecdotal evidence to the contrary. I don't argue that some women feel guilty, but most feel relieved.

Most women who have abortions in the US are already mothers, and are quite aware of the consequences of their decision.

I trust, given your strong feelings and your desire to prevent abortion, that you are both in support of low-cost or free birth control, good sex education in schools, and funding to provide housing, medical care and food for low-income women and children. Those are the programs that have been shown - again, in well-conducted scientific studies - to lower the rate of abortion. If you're not supporting those programs, you are more interested in controlling women's behavior than you are in preventing abortion.