Real Voices

In honor of Wednesday's House vote, I'd like to highlight a few fantastic resources from the Abortion Conversation Project. Each one dares to sidestep the politics of the abortion debate in favor of promoting genuine dialogue and reflection about what the issue means for us as individuals and as a society:

• Pregnancy: Lose the Adjective! A thought-provoking essay by Margaret R. Johnston that makes a compelling case for dropping modifiers like "unwanted," "unplanned," and "unintended" from our discussions of pregnancy, since such terms often wind up obscuring the complexity of what it means to be pregnant.

• Report from an Exploratory Meeting on Post Abortion Emotional Health. In 2003, the Abortion Conversation Project and Exhale convened a group of researchers, abortion providers, clergy, therapists, grassroots organizers, post-abortion service providers, and women who have had abortions.