Supreme Court Decisions: A Personal Lesson.
A few days ago, the Supreme Court entertained arguments on a case that could effectively overturn Roe V Wade. A patient of mine taught me a lesson about what this legal decision would mean. A mother was concerned about her young daughter who was repeatedly banging her head and pulling out her hair. Trying to understand this upsetting behavior, we got to talking about her family. Reluctantly, the mother told me about an older child, a son whom she had given up for adoption. At the time, she knew that she would not be able to give this child the stable home he deserved and she couldn’t get an abortion. Adoption was the solution; but the emotional cost was steep. Her grief at the loss haunted her next pregnancy. With the birth of a healthy baby – my patient -- instead of joy, she felt torn. “How could I love her,” [...]