Today is my last day at The Fresh Air Fund, and I have to admit, I am going to miss this place. I wrapped up the projects I'm working on and am now waiting for five o'clock. In the mean time, I have been surfing the net and stumbled upon a beautiful website, OurTruths.org. It is an online and print 'zine that hopes to unveil the mystery and stigma associated with abortion and allow women a chance to share their stories and experiences. Reading many of the women's stories, I find myself touched, confused, encouraged and enlightened.

What I've realized through reading the stories on this website along with others from different sources is that the emotions that come with abortion vary greatly. Just because someone is avidly pro-choice doesn't mean that they can't grieve their abortion - doesn't mean they can't have a moment where they wonder if they did the right thing. The fact is, abortion is a choice that should be included in the list of choices women have when deciding how to continue on after finding out they are pregnant. Anti-choice women seek abortions, just as pro-choice women choose not to. It would do us all good to step down from the political pedestal we have climbed and ground ourselves in what this issue is all about. It isn't about who's right or who's wrong - but allowing a woman to decide what is right for herself. Just as I disagree with the anti-choice mobs harrasing women outside of clinics, shoving plastic fetuses in their faces and proclaiming their damnation - I also don't agree with clinics that overbook appointments, forcing counseling sessions short, establishing a cold, calculated atmosphere. Women's clinics should be places of hope, of comfort, of peace. They should be a place women can take refuge in - where they can trust that the providers are invested in the outcome of their specific case. Where they can speak with a counselor for as long as they like - where they can feel comfortable about having an abortion - or leaving without one.

I myself have never had an abortion. I've know those that have. Until we find a place for their stories, we will not see change.