I was the first person in America to go to jail for opposing abortion. It was 1977 and abortion had been legal for four years. I was 19, a very close friend was pregnant and didn’t want to be and life was black and white to me.

She went to a clinic for an abortion and I went to lodge my protest. She was long gone by the time I arrived but I felt I had to stay. In fact, I refused to leave. I told the receptionist I would go only if they stopped doing abortions there.

I was arrested about half an hour later and ended up going to trial, being fined 25 dollars, refusing to pay and getting sentenced to eight days in jail.

My cell mates in the tiny county jail of Pittsfield, Massachusetts were three prostitutes. They had all had abortions but they still thought I was wonderful. They called me Saint Jo. One of them said she wept at night sometimes thinking of the babies she might have had.

It took me years to realize that it is possible to hate abortion and still feel compelled to have one; that people’s lives can be so circumscribed that the idea of a choice is a bad joke and that life is more complicated than black and white would lead us to believe.

I voted for Barack Obama in spite of disagreeing with him on the issue of abortion. I am not a “personally opposed, but” type. I think abortion is one of the great scourges of our century and a disgrace to a people who are capable of astonishing things: love, compassion, welcome, embrace.

But I am 54 now, not 19. I’ve been through tumultuous times. I have a 22 year old daughter with profound disabilities. I know about the cost of love. I know that compassion and welcome come with a price. I know that embrace implies confidence and security and that people need help to be good.

I voted for Barack Obama because I believe he understands this fundamental truth of human nature. He is trying to create a world where it is easier to be good. He is working toward a world where people have jobs, where taxes are fair and proportionate and where health care is everyone’s birthright.

I wish he believed that abortion is the unprecedented evil I believe it is. But politics is about compromise and getting things done, not about grabbing the moral high ground and then sitting there, scolding everyone who is not able – or willing – to scramble up to join you.

I want to reduce the number of abortions in America. I think we will be happier, healthier and more amazing if we stop killing our babies. But I think that will happen when people have jobs, when they have health care and when they feel secure and in control of their lives.

For me, Barack Obama is the person most likely to make that happen. I voted for him by absentee ballot and I’ve been donating regularly (over 40 times!) to his campaign. I have found a way to call undecided voters and urge them to get out and vote and I took the day off to do just that.

Sitting here in India, I can’t do a whole lot more. But if I have learned anything at all from this “unlikely story which is America” it is the power of one. That is also the Catholic story I grew up with and still believe in and it is the American story as well: one person really can change the course of history; one individual, holding fast to principle and righteousness, can take a nation by storm.

Barack Obama has proven the point. I think he deserves our support and our love.

 

Showing 5 comments
  • ConfusedbyYou
    Reply

    Abortion will not be stopped by electing someone whose policies and actions are to expand, promote and fund abortion.

  • Julianne Wiley
    Reply

    Predator Drones blowing up hundreds of civilians (surgical strike) AND lots more Abortion (surgical strike): that’s consistent.
    Medical abandonment of both unwanted preborns and abortion-damaged newborns: that’s consistent.
    Destroying Catholic hospitals, Baptist colleges, Lutheran grade schools and Jewish summer camps (equal opportunity) if they offer health insurance but not abortifacients: that’s consistent.
    Endocrine disruptors in our groundwater, and in our streams and lakes, and in the bodies of our aquatic vertebrates, our sisters and ourselves: that’s consistent.
    I’ll give you this much: you’re supporting the Consistent Ethic guy.

  • Julianne Wiley
    Reply

    Running huge amounts of weapons to BOTH the Afghani opium industry AND the Mexican narcotraficantes: that’s consistent.

  • Jayasree Srivastava
    Reply

    Beautifully written as always Jo.. Your point of view, unequivocally stated is clear for all to see. And as clear and beautiful is your statement that life is more complicated than black and white and that as one grows older we find it easier to accept and embrace the shades of grey in our own and other peoples’ lives.. I too believe that Barack Obama will work for creating a world where it is easier to be good, and if I were a US citizen he would have had my vote & whole hearted support. Thanks for this piece Jo.

  • parineeta
    Reply

    “I know about the cost of love. I know that compassion and welcome come with a price.” This is very beautiful. Thanks.

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