Women urge others to go public about abortions

[Blue_Tires]

PALO ALTO -- Harriett Hills Stinson, 85, a prominent member of the wealthy San Francisco family that founded Hills Bros. Coffee, says it took a push by GOP conservatives to cut funding for family planning and abortion services to move her to reveal a long-held personal secret: She once had an illegal abortion.

"I've never regretted it," Stinson told The Chronicle this week. As a mother in her 20s with three young children, Stinson said, she came to the decision that "for the sake of my family, it was not right for me to have a fourth child." Now, she said, "I'm hoping women who have had abortions will come forward."

On Wednesday, Stinson was honored as national, state and Bay Area supporters of abortion and reproductive rights gathered on the Peninsula for their annual Power of Choice lunch sponsored by NARAL Pro-Choice America, the nation's largest abortion and reproductive rights advocacy group.

The gathering in Palo Alto of 600 supporters was held to assess the political landscape on a key social issue and discuss the impact of what women's leaders are increasingly defining as a conservatives' "war on women" as the 2012 presidential race heats up.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/12/MN7C1LGRIP.DTL#ixzz1agGIUQMA

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. That was very brave of her. My Nana's her age and I know that women

from their generation tend to be very private about these things.

[secondwind]

4. Brave in ever sense. She could have died. It was illegal back then.

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. Absolutely! And I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision to make.

[ceile]

2. Good for her!

I hope she inspires others.

[Warren DeMontague]

3. I'm tired of control freaks and authoritarians who want to run other peoples' lives

I support these women speaking out and encourage others to do so.

[Ilsa]

6. Easier said then done. Women face discrimination by

employers and peers over personal choices like this. It's a hot-button topic that gets the anti-choice people, usually very religious, very worked up. I would be concerned about work relationships if this was an issue for me.

The rhetoric is ugly. "would you want a baby-murderer teaching your kids in school?" and crap like that is not beneath the zealots. My best friend told me she was harassed at her doctor's office by the nurse over an abortion she had seven years earlier.