Rachel Goldberg's Story
/Rachel Goldberg of Southwest Missouri had to travel to Boulder, CO to terminate for medical reasons. Please read and share her story, which can be found here.
DefendingGrace is designed to share our story about ending our very wanted pregnancy. We discuss the gray area stories around infertility and abortions, how this relates back to overall reproductive rights and laws around them, and provide resources and a forum for discussion.
Our story, which served as the starting point for this, was published in the Washington Post and shared on The Moth Podcast. I have also been published and/or written about in the The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Al Jazeera, NPR (All Things Considered and 1A), PBS, the Washingtonian, and more.
Comments are allowed on all posts, but they must be respectful no matter what you are trying to convey. Name-calling, defamatory speech, hate speech, etc. are not allowed and I will delete any comment that I feel like doesn't further the discussion - the rest of the Internet exists for that if that's what you're looking for.
Let's use this little space for thoughtful, kind, compassionate discussion and listening.
Kadie Tannehill's Story
/Kadie Tannehill shared her story on St. Louis On The Air after terminating her very-wanted pregnancy in the state of Missouri. You can read all about her experience here, as well as listen to the segment.
Just more proof that more families than you would ever think have to make these heartbreaking choices, and gives a peak into what we're all up against legislatively.
Sometimes I really feel like more people just need to know what happened to us and people like Kadie, and they'd back off. Other times I worry that even if people understood they wouldn't care. It's a shame beacuse our babies that would ultimately suffer the biggest price.
St. Louis Public Radio Interview
/After my story went viral, St. Louis Public Radio's Durrie Bouscaren interviewed me about our experience and what we went through legally in order to humanely terminate Grace's life after her fatal diagnosis. You can hear the 7 minute segment here.
Welcome to Defending Grace
/I never envisioned that I would have a website and blog dedicated to preserving our legal options to make the best choices for our families. But I also never envisioned having a daughter, Grace Pearl, diagnosed with Multicystic Dysplastic Kidney Disease at her 21 week anatomy scan either. Without functioning kidneys, she would have no amniotic fluid (a condition called Oligohydramnios), and without amniotic fluid, her lungs would never develop. The condition is 100% fatal when it presents that early, and affecting both kidneys, and we chose to terminate the pregnancy for medical reasons, a procedure referred to as TFMR.
Our story is just one in millions. You don't hear about it a lot because people are so afraid of backlash, judgment and retribution from strangers, friends, and even family for the choice they made, with no regard for how heartbreaking the choice was and remains for the parents.
This site is designed to share our story, tell the stories of other families who have faced this terrible choice with horrible options, and to educate and inform about threats to our legal rights. All I ask is that you listen and ask questions with compassion and an open heart and mind, and I promise you'll receive the same from me.
