Reply #127: I remember going to get a pap smear once at an abortion clinic.

[jdj]

There was a young woman there who was right on the borderline of her first trimester, she may have been a little further. She was aborting her child without telling the father, and seemed more than a little scared about her decision because she said he would "make" her have the child if he knew she was pregnant. Eventually the nurse came in and told her that they would go ahead and terminate the pregnancy even though she was past the time for this. She seemed tremendously relieved, only to get very upset just a few minutes later when they informed her she would not be able to have intercourse for a week or so. She said "but we are going to the beach this week, what will I tell him?". The whole situation seemed incredibly twisted, and I can remember that whole conversation just like it was yesterday. I bet she probably did not say anything and just went ahead and permitted intercourse and dealt with the pain. It really brings home what kind of warped and twisted relationships and what kind of power imbalances one must be in to have a partner like this.