Bumper sticker seen this morning: "I regret my abortion."

[CurtEastPoint]

I was just speechless. She also had some 'pro-life' stuff on her car (GA tag, etc.) but his one just blew me away.

[upaloopa]

1. Could be a anti abortion sticker anyone can put on their car

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Some people do regret having had one.

I suspect they're probably in the minority.

[Carolina]

39. true, but

how odd to advertise such feelings on a car. What also bothers me about people like this is their tendency to turn their personal regret into a crusade to overturn Roe.

To all those who seek to make abortion illegal again, I counter that making it illegal will not make it unavailable. Just look at drugs!

That should be bumper sticker

[TheFutureWillCome]

101. YUP

same thing goes for guns.

[SwissTony]

123. A friend of mine had an abortion.

It was not an easy decision for her. She agonised over it for some time. She suffered depression following the abortion.

This anecdotal evidence says little to nothing over the incidence of abortion or its effects. But I suspect it's rarely a decision taken likely.

[Xipe Totec]

3. The abortion came one generation too late. nt

[demwing]

85. that's not cool

I don't care if it's right. It's classless.

[Tom Ripley]

115. +1

[clarice]

4. In such poor taste. vulgar. nt

[HeroInAHalfShell]

5. Maybe they do? why does it blow you away?

[Zoeisright]

14. Because a sane person would not

put that on a bumper sticker. And if you are not a woman, you would not understand why.

[HeroInAHalfShell]

16. so you are a judge on what a sane person would do and what they wouldn't do?

gotcha.

[Just Saying]

34. I think

Zoe IS right. What sane person publicly advertises something so personal that they regret?

I call bullshit on their bumper sticker.

[HeroInAHalfShell]

38. good for you and your opinions. I disagree.

[Just Saying]

41. And good for you and yours.

I'm gonna take a wild guess that it's nothing you'll ever have to consider so maybe that's why you don't get that it's odd.

[Warpy]

77. You are, of course, male. That means you don't get it

because you can't get it.

No woman who had had an abortion and regretted it would put that on a bumper sticker. Admitting to an abortion would leave her open to slut shaming and worse.

It had to come from some of the men running the antiabortion movement and I imagine another man put it on the car.

[HappyMe]

93. Oh come on!

"...and I imagine another man put it on the car."

Are you serious?

Not everyone with a damn uterus is pro-choice.

[Carolina]

40. I agree with you, Just Saying

and ZoeisRight, too.

I said the same thing upthread.

[Just Saying]

46. It irks me when people who had safe and legal choices

When they had an unplanned pregnancy try to take the choice from everyone else.

Seems like this is just a means to throw a private (and difficult) situation in people's faces.

[Quantess]

129. So do I.

I wouldn't take a bumper sticker's word for it.

[dsc]

133. for the same reason people give leads at aa meetings

they think their story might help someone else.

[Honeycombe8]

120. I'm ok w/that bumper sticker.

That's because it expresses an opinion and points out that some women do regret it. That's okay. (I don't believe that the person driving the car really had an abortion & regretted it. It's a bumper sticker is all, pointing out to women that this may end up being how they feel, if they get an abortion.)

I'm okay w/it because it's not a real anti abortion sticker, stating that OTHERS should not be able to get an abortion. Persuasion is o.k. And that works both ways.

[HERVEPA]

130. You/re pretty damn naive if you don't think that's an anti-abortion bumper sticker.

From one who's been a volunteer escort at Planned Parenthood for over 20 years.

[Honeycombe8]

134. That's the "damn" intent, of course. But actually, it expresses an opinion about an experience

and an individual feeling.

Same as if the sticker said, "I am glad I had that abortion at 16 for a child I could not care for." Its intent is pro-choice, but actually, it's an opinion sticker.

[HERVEPA]

136. You are even more naive than I thought

Odds of that bumper sticker reflecting actual experience are incredibly small. You are apparently unaware that these people think lying is just fine to put forward their cause. Go to your local Planned Parenthood, if you live near one, and you'll see the truth about these cretins.

[Honeycombe8]

137. Children often don't understand that others can hold a different opinion...

and that their own opinion may be faulty.

I stand by my (very informed and considered) opinion.

[HERVEPA]

138. This child in his 60's stands by his belief

and doubles down on his naive comment.

[brewens]

128. Maybe a teabagger mob will see that and stone her? Probably not. If she got herself born again

and is now anti choice, (for everyone else) she's probably forgiven.

[uppityperson]

6. I regret my colonoscopy.

[Pragdem]

8. No need to be a pain in the ass about it. nt

[uppityperson]

15. Nothing good came out of it. eom

[Orrex]

31. Did you get to see a new side of yourself, at least?

[uppityperson]

87. It was the shits.

[JimDandy]

69. Lol DUzy!

[Arugula Latte]

124. I admire your probing insight.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

140. You're full of crap, you never had one! (n/m)

[HappyMe]

7. Maybe she does regret it.

I'm sure there are women out there that do. Maybe that explains the rest of the pro-life stuff on the car.

[lapislzi]

55. How to put this delicately.

I don't exactly regret my abortion. I am glad that I was fortunate enough to live in a society (UK) where it was a safe and routine medical procedure.

I do not regret the decision not to bear a child that I could not support. I do not regret the life I've been able to lead since then, including bearing and raising a wanted child.

I regret being foolish and careless.

I can imagine a person experiencing regret about a child that they know they can't or shouldn't have, but maybe wanted for some reason. I can imagine a person experiencing regret for an abortion earlier in life if they discover they're infertile later on. I'm sure that's difficult.

There are a lot of reasons why one might regret an abortion. There are also a lot of reasons why one wouldn't. Either way, you and I aren't in the judging business.

All that being said, I doubt that was the thinking behind the bumper sticker.

[HappyMe]

65. The thing is,

I don't know this woman. I don't know what else went into her decision. Maybe she is a foaming at the mouth pro-lifer and always has been. Or maybe she isn't. It's not for me to say, and it isn't any of my damned business. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that just because a person has a uterus, that doesn't automatically make them pro-choice. She is entitled to her opinion, just as I am mine.

I generally don't tend to take bumper stickers as a personal affront. I say what I have to with my vote, and small donations to Planned Parenthood.

Maybe it isn't even her car - she could have borrowed it.

[lapislzi]

68. Oh, right. I agree with everything you said.

The subtext, whatever it is, is everything. In the case of the bearer of said bumper sticker, I think the subtext is that "I regret my abortion, and you should not have one because you'll regret it too." Or, "abortion makes you a murderer." Or something.

There's all sorts of moral overtones there that I just don't care for.

What you do with your uterus is your business. Leave me out of it.

[geek tragedy]

9. Eh, that's her personal experience, no point in trying to rebut, nt

[MADem]

10. Attention seeking. She has a need to fit in with an anti-choice crowd.

"I debase myself so I can be redeemed!" she thinks. "I will be wrapped in the loving arms of a forgiving congregation! I will be SPECIAL! Listen to MEEEEE....hear MY story!!!"

What she doesn't realize is that the judgmental bastards who are anti-choice will embrace her to her face, call her a champion of the pro-life movement and give her all that attention she desires, and then, the minute she leaves the room, they'll be calling her the s-word, the w-word, and t-word that rhymes with 'ramp,' quick as a wink! Don't let 'that one' near your husband, now!!! Don't leave her alone with your teen-aged boy!!!

She'll get the sideways glances for the rest of her life--and the odd whispers that she'll shake off but...still, she'll wonder what they're saying about her. And she should.

[Tom Ripley]

116. Spot on and well said (n/t)

[liberal_at_heart]

117. Every Easter my father's church has a pancake breakfast for all the single mothers.

I've always wondered what they might be thinking and talking about behind the single moms' backs(you know the ones who are responsible for destroying the nuclear family and the very fabric of society).

[MADem]

118. The better to identify them for future point-n-gossip! Shame!!! Shame!!! nt

[MicaelS]

11. Why were you speechless?

You never heard of a person making a choice that they really regretted later in life?

[LanternWaste]

25. Non-fictional regrets do not often get advertised on a bumper sticker.

"You never heard of a person making a choice that they really regretted later in life?"

Non-fictional regrets do not often get advertised on a bumper sticker. Though I imagine some may well rationalize a bumper sticker that reads "I regret getting a prostate exam", though I too would be speechless by the benign petulance of it being advertised.


Yet the only conclusion you can deduce is that the OP has "never heard of a person making a choice that they really regretted later in life"? Odd that.

[Brickbat]

12. Some people like to brag.

[Zoeisright]

13. Yeah, I'll bet.

that that woman is lying through her teeth.

Everyone I know who has had an abortion has been completely relieved. And no way anyone who has had an abortion would put a bumper sticker like this on her car.

[demwing]

90. " Everyone I know who has had an abortion has been completely relieved."

Then you don't know my sister.

She had an abortion when she was in her early 20s. She said it was the worst choice she ever made.

I said something to the effect of "At least you had that choice." It didn't matter. She regrets it to this day, tells anyone who will listen, and is decidedly not crazy.

You can't just put people into little boxes and pretend to know how they should or should not behave. Not with accuracy, at least.

[xmas74]

121. My friend wasn't relieved that she had an abortion.

She's still angry and regrets that she felt forced into the situation.

She found out she was pregnant after fleeing from an abusive relationship. She had no money, no job, and was hiding from her ex. When she found out she was pregnant she went down to the local DFS, requesting any assistance and explaining the situation. The case worker informed her that if she received any assistance they would then have to inform the father. Receiving assistance during her pregnancy would have sealed her fate.

She already had an ex parte filed against him but the police department informed her that they really couldn't do anything unless he was caught in the act.

In the end, she called her mother and explained the situation. Her mother made the appointment, drove her there and back, and paid for the procedure. Within five years her ex was in prison for trying to kill his new girlfriend.

She wanted to have a baby but nearly 20 years ago she didn't feel like she could. It wasn't emotionally, it wasn't financially-it was possibly life or death. And laws were much different then. She talked about it with the birth of each of her three children. (She remarried six years later.) Last time we spoke she made the comment about how it would have been a college freshman.

She's thankful for the option. That option has allowed for three new lives to be in this world and I know she wouldn't change that. She's thankful but in no way would you ever hear her describe it as relieved.

[ScreamingMeemie]

17. Translates to: "Now that I've got mine, I sure as heck don't want you to have that option..."

Last edited Thu May 30, 2013, 05:52 PM - Edit history (1)

Easy to say.

[Egalitarian Thug]

91. ^ This ^

[Puzzledtraveller]

18. I'd rather see that than a truck with balls hanging off it.

[Freddie]

131. Saw one of those the other day

Took a minute to realize what that thing was hanging off the license plate. Eww.
Was one of those enormous Chevy trucks with the oversized tires. You know what they say: big truck, small p*nis.

[reflection]

19. That sounds so odd that I would suspect

someone else put it on their car. I'm trying to imagine the person who would be so wracked with guilt that they would pay their penance in the form of self-humiliation. I could be completely wrong, and probably am, but I could just see a fundie neighbor or a garden-variety asshole slapping that on someone's bumper, and the victim driving around unknowingly for a few days until someone pointed it out.

On edit: You say she had other pro-life stuff on her car, so I guess that blows my theory out of the water...

[GoCubsGo]

113. Or else she's just flat out lying.

Want to bet she never had an abortion? She seems of the ilk that call into CSPAN on the "Democrat" line, but they just got so upset/disappointed/fed up/disgusted/blah...blah...blah... that they changed parties. I strongly suspect that this woman is full of shit.

[Arkansas Granny]

20. I suppose some women do find reasons to regret having an abortion.

Since I don't know the woman, I can't say why she would have a sticker like that on her car. Of course, it's also possible that she never had an abortion and is just trying to make a point.

[Ohio Joe]

21. I wonder if she regrets being able to get her abortion safely and legally?

Or if she would have preferred it was done in a back ally?

[Carolina]

44. Touche, Ohio Joe

you hit the nail on the head. She didn't have to use a back alley butcher, a Lysol douche, a coat hanger, knitting needle...

[Cha]

60. Excellent point, OhioJoe n/m

[sinkingfeeling]

22. Probably a response to "I'm Not Sorry".

http://www.imnotsorry.net/

[Gormy Cuss]

28. I agree. n/t

[Just Saying]

48. I don't care to see that on a bumper sticker either.

Poor taste all around.

[sinkingfeeling]

56. Not a bumper sticker, but a web site.

[Just Saying]

61. Yes I looked at it.

I was just saying I would find it odd also if someone has a sticker saying "I'm not sorry I had an abortion."

I guess it's too important and personal IMO.

[LadyHawkAZ]

23. She probably does, it happens

And that's fine, except for the unspoken rest of the sentence "...therefore you shouldn't be able to have one."

Lots of people regret things they've done. It's only wrong when they assume no one else should do it either because they've had a bad experience.

[wundermaus]

24. Nobody wants an abortion...

The simple fact that a woman has the sole right to decide when and if she wants to have a baby is the core of this issue.
Rich women can have an abortion on demand - simply hop on a jet and go where they are preformed and no one is the wiser.
A poor woman wanting an abortion agonies over the logistics, the risk of stigma, the condemnation of her family and her community.
We are a society that still perceives women as property. We are a society that still tries to take basic human rights and deny them to women. We may think there has been progress but it has been a battle fought for generations and the the war still rages for women to be EQUAL to men. You want equality for women? Make it a life sentence without parole and mandatory castration for a man to impregnate a women without her consent. When that day come, we can discuss the moral implications of abortion. But until that day, women do not even have the to control their own bodies.

[cbdo2007]

26. Many people regret their abortions.

[HangOnKids]

29. You Know This How? n/t

[pnwmom]

33. Because whatever hard decisions we make in life, it's easy to second guess

ourselves and feel regret.

Many people have decisions in life they've regretted -- and an abortion could be one of those things.

I'm not bothered by other people expressing regret for their own decisions, whatever they are, as long as they don't try to control mine.

[cbdo2007]

42. People have told me so.

[HangOnKids]

45. Okie Dokie!

[MindPilot]

27. "You're Lucky YOUR Mother Chose LIFE!"

saw that one a couple days ago. Wanted to yell at the driver (but at 85 on the freeway--it just makes one look stupid) "I was born in '54; my mother didn't HAVE a choice."

ETA there are a lot of things in my life I regret. I do not itemize them on the back of my car.

[HangOnKids]

30. How True! Ever Seen An " I Regret My Affair or I Regret Cheating On My Taxes " Bumper Sticker?

Me neither.

[MindPilot]

35. Maybe you have just started a new meme

Redemption bumperstickers. Absolve yourself of guilt at the boulevard confessional--share your sins with your fellow travelers and motor on down the highway with a clear conscience!

[HangOnKids]

37. I Am ALL Over That!

[Bay Boy]

86. "ETA there are a lot of things in my life I regret. I do not itemize them on the back of my car"

On my car the last bumper sticker would have to say "Continued on next car..."

[onehandle]

32. So... They were a zombie fetus?

How were they reaching the pedals? I suppose if I was aborted and became undead, I'd be pissed too.



It's a joke.

For the record, some people do regret having an abortion.

And some people are obsessed enough to put that bumper sticker on their car, even though they've never had one. To make you 'think.'

[Arcanetrance]

49. Theres a whole b horror movie based on that premise.

I think its called Fetus de Milo

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

36. I once regretted buying a BSA motorcycle. But, I got over it.

[CurtEastPoint]

43. I should have expressed myself better.

I took it as honest that she felt she did regret it.
I was just taken aback that someone would expose something so personal and private on a bumper sticker.
Sorry I wasn't clear and sorry also if I offended anyone. I wasn't trying to be dismissive of the lady's feelings.
Thanks.

[HangOnKids]

47. I'll Be On The Lookout For The "I Regret Having Children" Bumper Sticker

Because I'm sure MANY people do!

[HappyMe]

67. I don't regret mine.

I very often regret other people's decision to have kids.

[Just Saying]

50. She chose to put her feelings out there on her car

For all to see. I agree with you that it's an odd choice.

And since it is a bumper sticker that would elicit strong reaction, I question her motives and honesty.

[Ilsa]

51. BS BumperSticker. I would ask

her for the reasons she chose to have it. Maybe she regrets that she had to have an abortion, but she probably had significant reasons for it.

[Just Saying]

52. Study: Most Women Don't Regret Abortion

Food for thought.

"Most women were satisfied with their decision, believed they had benefited more than had been harmed by their abortion, and would have the abortion again," writes study author Brenda Major, PhD. "These findings refute claims that women typically regret an abortion." Major is a professor of psychology at the University of California in Santa Barbara.

http://women.webmd.com/news/20000822/study-says-most-women-dont-regret-abortion

[cbdo2007]

58. The study says 30% were not satisfied with their decision to have an abortion.

[Just Saying]

59. I didn't see that specific statistic

But it doesn't change the fact that the study shows most don't regret it.

I wonder how many would advertise it on their bumper?

[cbdo2007]

64. Well "Most" could be 51% or it could be 99%....

so I actually read the study and it was 70%.

Sure, "Most" don't regret it but 1/3 isn't a small enough statistic that it should just be overlooked or disregarded.

[Just Saying]

71. Well you're making a conjecture since the article says

70% were satisfied that 30% were not but likely there were those who were indifferent as well. There were more than 2 options.

The article also says 80% were not depressed and those that were fell into normal rates of the general population.

I posted the study so if you want to delve into the actual statistics feel free. I think the 70 and 80% figures stated on the overview qualify handily as "most" and proved my point.

Not overlooking the minority just curious why one of them would advertise her angst other than to rub it in the face of others.

So I'm trying to see your point here. Perhaps we're sailing past each other.

I guess for me the OP was taken aback by a rather provocative bumper sticker from an anti-choicer that hoped to get attention. Do you think most people advertise their regrets regarding personal choices on their bumper? I guess she got what she wanted baca use we're talking about her.

[Just Saying]

72. Actual stats in the study are

That 10.8% and after 2 years 16% were dissatisfied.

[liberal_at_heart]

119. Well this is one woman who does not regret her decision to have one.

I have had an abortion. For me, given my age, and my circumstance it was the best decision for me. I simply was not financially, emotionally, or pychologically capable of keeping a child or giving it up for adoption. And no I would not put it on a bumper sticker. I would not be so presumptious to think that strangers in a car pulling up behind me would want to know that. I tell my story here when the issue is already brought up. Then I do presume that they want to discuss the issue because they are already discussing it.

[Just Saying]

63. Here's the actual study.

http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=481643

You can read and see that while 20% or less have regrets and/or wouldn't do it again, most do not.

[matt819]

53. That's not really the point

I don't, and can't, presume to know how women feel about the decision to have an abortion. But whether one regrets it or not, the point is that the right to have one must be reserved to the woman only and must not be restricted by law. I'll resort to broad generalizations here, for the sake of simplicity, but I would guess that women don't choose the abortion route easily or happily. It's a crucial life choice. And there's no question that many women regret the decision. But, again, that doesn't mean they shouldn't have that choice. That's why the issue is not pro-abortion, but rather pro-choice. But arguing this point with fundies is unproductive.

[HockeyMom]

54. My husband's Aunt didn't even reaching her 80s

She was in her 40s, pre-menopausal, married, a grandmother, and paid her OB/GYN to say she had a a heart condition which a pregnancy would endanger her life. They called them "therapeutic" abortions when it was illegal. It cost her and her husband a LOT of money to pay her doctor to say this.

She told me, her niece-in-law, about it when she was in her 80s. "Never let them go to back to these times and take away YOUR rights".

Hello, anti-choice people? An 80 something year old woman, a mother, and a grandmother, and near DEATH, said this. If you are that old and don't regret something, a big, fat DUH to anti-choices.

[kestrel91316]

57. "Well, then, I suggest you don't have any more," would be the note I'd

leave on that windshield.

[LittleBlue]

62. Maybe some people do end up regretting it due to circumstance

I'd have to know her before questioning her motives.

To me, she made her own choice and had to live with it. At least she has that. The government didn't make it for her.

[cbdo2007]

66. Good response. I don't understand the people here jumping

all over her and downplaying a very serious issue, which is that it is a fact that some women have regret after having an abortion. This discussion doesn't have anything to do with the abortion discussion of whether or not it should be legal or not, and we should be aware and supportive of people who regret decisions they've made regardless of our idealogical differences.

It's not illegal to get drunk yet I know many, many people who have regretted drunken experiences throughout their life and I'm happy to give them support irregardless of the activity that caused their regret.

[Just Saying]

73. She downplayed it when she slapped her issue on a bumper sticker IMO.

And by displaying her "regret" in this way and with anti-choice stickers as well she made it about whether or not abortion should be legal.

If she needs help I hope she gets it but I'm not sure advertising her guilt publicly is helpful to her or anyone else who has gone thru it.

[uppityperson]

89. Do people put bumper stickers on their car "I regret getting drunk"? It is not about if someone

regrets something, but about putting a bumper sticker on their car about it. And taking it another step, it is about regretting a medical procedure. Do you have a bumper sticker "I regret having a prostate exam"?

[badtoworse]

70. I am sure that many women have later regretted an abortion.

Why would you be speechless?

[Generic Other]

74. It's a lot like scratching a backward "B" into your face

and tweeting that you were attacked by Democrats.

[Just Saying]

75. I wonder if people are missing the point.

I don't think the OP was shocked someone would regret an abortion, but that they felt the need to slap a bumper sticker on their car to tell the world about it.

Feels off, like propaganda. Or maybe it's just me.

[HappyMe]

82. Most bumper stickers are propaganda.

I don't tend to get worked up over some crap somebody slaps on their car.

And if that is her belief, and/or she does regret an abortion for whatever reason, who the hell are we to judge her.
Having a uterus doesn't make a person automatically pro-choice.

She may have borrowed the damn car, for all we know.

[Just Saying]

83. And most are put on to get attention.

Mission accomplished! Lol

[markiv]

76. your free speech requires allowing it from others nt

[Just Saying]

80. And who said she wasn't allowed?

Just because its in poor taste and most likely bs doesn't mean she can't display her anti-choice propaganda.

[WinkyDink]

104. "Your" free speech?? BTW: It also protects REACTIONS.

[joeybee12]

78. What are the odds this person never had an abortion?

I'd say pretty good...

[Donald Ian Rankin]

96. I'd say very low, but not zero. N.T.

[Starry Messenger]

106. Ditto. nt.

[joeybee12]

109. Was a guy driving?

Actually, if I happened to park next to her, I'd ask for her medical records since she doesn't seem to have a problem with letting people know about medical procedures she's had...she shouldn't be offended if she's telling the whole world about it.

[ZRT2209]

79. Keep Christ in Christians

[NCTraveler]

81. I don't have much of a problem with it.

If there is any truth to it then my heart goes out to her. A serious decision she made in life has helped to shape her opinion, one that I don't agree with. You never know what she has gone through in life. She may have been continuously harassed by her male partner at the time. Her fundy family may have shamed her. She may be full of shit and just a pro lifer looking to stir shit. With just a bumper sticker I don't see how any judgment can be made on her character.

[ellie]

84. Yes, she regrets it but she still got it.

I hate these people.

[Shrike47]

88. It's a bizarre thing to put on your bumper, far too intimate.

How about a bumper sticker that says 'I regret slapping my child' or 'I regret pulling the plug on my father.' Normal people don't advertise the deeply personal.

When I was a teenager and young woman, abortions were illegal and horrific. Keep them legal and safe.

[KittyWampus]

92. She had the choice, yet others shouldn't? She & others like her should mind their own business.

[MNBrewer]

94. That's fine

She's free to regret whatever she wants. People regret lots of things. That's absolutely no reason to make those things illegal.

[Adsos Letter]

125. Well put. N/T

[hrmjustin]

95. I saw one once and my reaction was thanks for sharing and I don't regret being pro-choice.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

97. Lots of people end up regretting abortions. Failing to acknowledge that is silly and offensive.

It's a simple fact that a significant minority (I'm afraid I can't provide an exact number) of those who have abortions regret it later, and concealing that fact is not in anyone's best interest.

It's also a simple fact that a significant fraction of those who have children, especially early in life, suffer because of it (although very few admit to *regretting* it).

Denying those people their autonomy, or demanding that they keep quiet about that fact, or attacking or ridiculing them if they don't, is spectacularly patronising and offensive.

Attacking those people if they use that as an argument to prevent other people from having abortions *is* entirely justifiable, but I'd try to be gentler when arguing with someone who opposed abortion rights on those grounds than I would when arguing with people who did so for other reasons.

[WinkyDink]

105. You are making things up, and THAT? IS offensive.

IOW: You're talking out of your arse.

[Dawson Leery]

98. Then she should not have had one.

http://www.imnotsorry.net/

[Ino]

99. Jaw-dropping interview ...

Sherrie Shepherd interviewed by Joy Behar... talk about advertising your guilt over "A LOT" of abortions!

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0910/30/joy.01.html

SHEPHERD: I had a lot.

BEHAR: Ten?

SHEPHERD: Yes, it was a lot.

BEHAR: Really?

SHEPHERD: It was a long time -- it was over a decade and a half ago. But I was young. And it was a time when for me, it was like birth control.

BEHAR: Yes.

SHEPHERD: Because you know, sometimes when you are young, you just don`t think about the ramifications or the consequences of the choices that you make. And I was one of those girls. I didn`t think about these are babies. I just knew that I was pregnant and I didn`t want to be pregnant anymore.

BEHAR: So wasn`t it easier after the fifth abortion to say to yourself I might as well just use a condom and it`s lot easier than an abortion.

SHEPHERD: No. I just didn`t think about it. I was a teenager -- I just didn`t think about it.

BEHAR: Now, you didn`t have to write this in your book. You could have kept that to yourself. But you put it in there.

SHEPHERD: I did because you know what? What hit me later on was the guilt. When I finally grew up and got a little wisdom and I realized, "Wait a minute I killed a lot of babies because I`m not for abortion."

BEHAR: That`s how you feel about it.

SHEPHERD: That`s how I feel about it, that I killed a lot of babies. That I made really bad choices and it took years before I could let the guilt go. And it was because someone at church said to me, "When you get to heaven, your babies are going to be there and they`re going to say, `Momma, we`ve been waiting for you`."

And for me, that freed me up of the guilt and forgiven myself. So I wanted to let other women know that you can forgive yourself. You don`t have to carry around that shame for the rest of your life.

Now I`m not against taking away a woman`s choice but I don`t believe in abortion because I feel like...

BEHAR: For yourself?

SHEPHERD: I just don`t believe in abortion, period. But I would never take away a woman`s right to choose what`s good for her body. But I still believe that when you do have an abortion, still inside, you go through a lot of stuff. It tears away at your spirit and your soul. So I don`t think people think about that.

BEHAR: That`s not true of everybody, by the way. I know that a lot of people think that.

SHEPHERD: What?

BEHAR: Some -- I know people who have had abortions, they don`t think twice about it.

SHEPHERD: I don`t know.

BEHAR: They don`t look back on it. They don`t think they killed a baby. None of that. They just think it`s a tiny little thing that`s just there; now, it`s not there, anymore.

(CROSS TALK)

SHEPHERD: Yes. I think it might not happen. I think sooner or later it would. But it`s them.

I feel like the more the people that I talk to, they do feel a sense of shame or guilt.

[NYC Liberal]

100. I don't see why that would blow you away. People make decisions they regret.

Not that I agree with the anti-choice shit but having regrets about a decision isn't that crazy.

[WinkyDink]

107. Oh, please. It's a POLITICAL statement, not a personal one.

[NYC Liberal]

111. Or it's a personal statement being used for a political agenda.

People do that all the time.

Either way it's not really shocking.

[WinkyDink]

102. Maybe I'll print up "Your mother WISHES she'd had an abortion."

[ZombieHorde]

103. Perhaps

she thinks pregnant women who are considering an abortion may think again after reading that bumper sticker.

[WinkyDink]

108. I know I'M always influenced by bumper stickers to change my life!

[ZombieHorde]

110. Few people think of themselves as being so easily influenced,

but many think of others as being so. Why else would people put political yard signs up, or have bumper stickers with the names of politicians on them. Is it simply a matter of shallow identity?

[WinkyDink]

122. Signs pro-politician state one's preferences. This bumper sticker is propaganda.

[liberal_at_heart]

112. on a bumper sticker? Does she walk up to people and introduce herself to strangers that way?

Hi, I'm Suzy Q. I regret my abortion. Why do some Christians think it is their duty to publicize their religious views this way? Okay, maybe she does regret it. Why do we have to read about it on her bumper?

[Tom Ripley]

114. Well, I don't regret her abortion

[cynatnite]

126. I don't think I can regret my abortion...

I wouldn't have the good life I have now. I honestly have no idea what sort of life I would have.

I probably wouldn't have the terrific husband that I have now.

I do find it strange that she would advertise this in such a way.

[peacebird]

127. I felt only relief after mine.....

[Texasgal]

132. I hear you.

I have not one iota of regret! In fact, I rarely think about it.

I did what was best for me at the time and I feel no guilt and no shame. I am thankful I had that choice to make.

[Ruby the Liberal]

135. Lots of people regret lots of decisions they make in life.

Maybe she later had a child and realized it wasn't going to be as bad as she thought.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

139. She (well, obviously) has the right to her feelings....

Just as she had the right to make the decision in the first place.

I hope she gets help for her unresolved issue.