DEAR ABBY: I am a 70-year-old Republican woman. I attended high school with fewer than 300 students in the late '40s. Two young women died of botched abortions, devastating their families and friends. (Abortions were illegal then.)
When my own children were in high school in the '70s, a young couple who were "going steady" became pregnant. They terminated the pregnancy early on at a reputable clinic. Few knew about it. The relationship ended after a few months. Both went on to graduate from college, marry others, and now have stable families with two and three children respectively.
My grandson is the result of a caring birth mother choosing to place the child she could not care for up for adoption -- thereby giving happiness to the child as well as to our family.
The key word is "choice." Only the girl/woman should make the decision to have an abortion or carry the pregnancy to term and keep the child or place the baby for adoption. The decision should NOT be up to self-righteous, ambitious politicians. -- PRO-CHOICE GRANDMA
DEAR GRANDMA: Right on! Only the individual knows how much she can handle, and the decision should be hers to make. The key word is, indeed, "choice."