Some pro-choicers may find a Cherry Hill abortion advocate's resolutely upbeat video about terminating her own pregnancy rather unsettling. Me included.
Thirty-five years ago, on a gray Saturday afternoon, I accompanied a friend to an abortion clinic. I was not the father; my friend had made up her mind and would have gotten to the appointment with or without me. That's what I told myself then, and am telling myself again.
The clinic was as nondecscript as any suburban medical facility. But the atmosphere in that waiting room was unforgettable.
About a dozen grim-faced couples sat in a silence that could only be described as funereal. There was none of the perky story-sharing -- and certainly no singer-songwriter warbling in the background -- as in Emily Letts' earnest video.
Whatever one thinks of the tone of the three-minute clip (the 'yay' at the end of the procedure is, to say the least, jarring), Letts, who's also an actress, has performed a public service.
She has shown us that terminating a pregnancy needn't be a gloomy, guilt-laden, melodramatic business; it can be quick, pretty much painless, and even an opportunity for personal growth.
Thanks to Emily Letts, some of us now find ourselves having to consider how we feel about abortion. Again.
--KEVIN RIORDAN