Elizabeth Weil and Ayelet Waldman Ask Readers to Weigh In

This is part five of a dialogue about having a late-term abortion between Ayelet Waldman, author of Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace [2], and Elizabeth Weil, a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and the co-author, with Dara Torres, of Age is Just a Number: Achieve Your Dreams At Any Stage In Your Life [3]. You can read part one here [4], part two here [5], part three here [6], part four here [7], and part six here [8].

I’m too optimistic a person to decide that just because some people believe that a fertilized egg is as good as a three-month-old baby, we should throw up our hands. Despite our fascination with Sarah Palin, I don’t think we want to become the great American Palin family, adding Down’s sons and babies born to teenage daughters at a fearsome clip. So what do we do to move forward? How do we capitalize on Obama’s promise of change—and the galvanizing horror of Tiller’s assassination—to move ahead the country’s abortion debate, particularly with regard to the late ones?

I like your plans for starting proposals, Ayelet: laws that protect the right to abort absolutely until about halfway through pregnancy, then “a graduated system tied to different stages of fetal development” further down the line. I like the think tank full of bioethicists, too, though the President’s Council on Bioethics has been disappointing in the extreme. We need new energy and hard, clear thinking. We need a charismatic, brave, and practical leader. Do those bad-ass Emmanuel brothers have a sister? Who’s going to take this on?

Perhaps the best thing we can do, here, is encourage more discussion. What do you say to broadening this conversation to anyone who wants to join? The only requirement is candor. Perhaps from our collective trials we’ll be able to auger down and reach some wisdom. Maybe together we can mature the debate.

So, assuming you’re game, Ayelet, I’ll kick this back to you or any reader who wants to join the conversation. I truly appreciate your willingness to discuss this publicly with me.

Post a comment below, or e-mail us [9].

With gratitude and best wishes,

Liz

Read Ayelet's response here [8].

Photograph of pregnant woman by George Doyle/Stockbyte/Getty Images.