The Rev. Donna Schaper of this church in Manhattan wrote about her abortion for the Hartford Courant last week.

She writes:

I did what I think men do all the time when they take us to war: They choose violence because, although they believe it is bad, it is still better than the alternatives. The "just war" theory assumes that human beings get caught in terrible choices all the time. This freedom is not just for men; it is for women also.

I did what was right for me, for my family, for my work, for my husband and for my three children. I happen to agree that abortion is a form of murder. I think the quarrel about when life begins is disrespectful to the fetus. I know I murdered the life within me. I could have loved that life but chose not to.

When someone who is a strong opponent of war justifies her abortion by comparing it to an act of war (not to mention murder), that does, to me, suggest the need for helping women understand what it feels like inside after an abortion, before they have one. It suggests that there's a need to provide genuine support to women so that their temporary life circumstances don't feel like being in the middle of a war zone. However, there are no links on the church Rev. Schaper preaches at to groups that help women in crisis pregnancies.