Abortion in a Nutshell

In the wake of the George Tiller murder, Andrew Sullivan has been posting emails he's received from women and men who have contemplated and/or gone ahead with late term abortions. I must say that so many of them are so compelling and heart-wrenching, I am not surprised to read that Sullivan's own views on the practice of later-term abortions are beginning to morph.

Now he posts a short but sweet reader email that goes right to the heart of the matter for me. Money quote:

Just as gays coming out and being known destigmatizes you and them, getting these abortion stories out takes away the cartoon quality of the whole abortion debate. There just is very little black and white in the world and loads of gray.

I spent nearly eight years in an organization of men who were dedicated to the idea that there was only black and white when it came to men and their lives. Midway through that experience, I learned that black-and-white had its place within the decision processes of men, but that it was a coping mechanism within a world that was so totally gray it was frequently overwhelming.