First of all, let me warn you: this isn’t going to be the usual light-hearted post about weight loss and breast cancer, my friends! So if you’re here expecting that, sorry to disappoint you.

However, like many of you, I’m really appalled by the breaking news out of the Supreme Court. And I won’t go into detail, as you’ve undoubtedly already heard and are already in freakout mode. So let me just tell you, right from the outset, that even though I’m a Catholic, I’m a really bad Catholic (surprise!) because while I personally would never have an abortion, or encourage someone else to have one, I do NOT think abortion should be illegal!

Here’s why: When I first moved to Southern California (wow, was it really 40 years ago?), I shared living quarters with a somewhat eclectic group of people. One of them, who I’ll call “S,” was what traditionalist types would call a “public sinner” — a prostitute.

(You know, the kind of person Jesus would never associate with. /sarcasm) Anyway, shortly after I met her, S became pregnant. The hyperjudgmental types might not believe this, but she really wanted very much to have a baby and was overjoyed to discover she was pregnant. However, there was a snag– S’s obstetrician warned her that because of her age and some ongoing health issues, this pregnancy would be *very* dangerous for her, as well as for her baby, and advised her to get an abortion.

No problem, right? After all, she wasn’t a Christian, and everyone knows nonChristians abort their fetuses at the drop of a hat, right? (again, backslash sarcasm here!) Well, guess what? S decided that in spite of the risks, she was going to take a chance, because, in HER words, “I want my baby to have a chance.”

So she went through with the pregnancy– but sadly, both she and her baby died within 24 hours of each other.

For me, S’s story has always framed the way I’ve looked at the abortion issue ever since. She didn’t want an abortion, so she CHOSE not to have one. But– what if she’d decided she wasn’t ready to die, and reluctantly decided to have the abortion? Well, at that time, and in this place (California), she had the choice. Yet all I can think about today is all the “S’s” out there who may be in the exact same situation– but won’t be allowed the same choice. No, the increasingly all-powerful gov’mint will make it for her!

(And ironically, the people who are pushing the hardest for the MOST restrictive antiabortion laws are the SAME ones who complained about “government overreach” when they were forced to wear masks during the pandemic!)

To slightly misquote Gayle Forman, if we can’t trust women with a choice, how can we trust them with a child?