The Commons

The Things We Can’t Face

Caitlin Flanagan reflected in the December issue on what we don’t talk about when we talk about abortion.

I read Caitlin Flanagan’s essay last night; then I read it again. I have never seen my inner tumult laid out in such eloquent prose before.

The badge-wearers, sign-thrusters, and yell-louders on both sides of this fight lost me long ago, though I tip my hat to their sense of urgency. I find myself in a quieter, sadder place that doesn’t marry with slogans. The costliness, the never-to-be for both woman and child, is heartbreaking. Whom shall we value? The answer is easy and impossible.