DefendingGrace.org is a website for telling the story about ending our wanted pregnancy, and discussing the gray areas around abortion with respect, curiosity and compassion.
The latest updates around our story of
ending our wanted pregnancy,
where our journey is taking us,
and what you can do to help.
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.
I will be sharing my story as part of The Moth Mainstage event tomorrow evening (Thursday, October 18th) at the Wilbur Theater in Boston, MA. Tickets are sold out, but if you’re there, send me a hug! This will be my first time sharing in front of so many people and I’m nervous, but grateful for the opportunity to share our story.
I’ll tweet as much as I can about it too!
We have two big updates today!
Our story and experience, including the trip to Washington D.C. to attend Judge Gorsuch's confirmation hearing and meet Senator Feinstein, as well as some ideas around what we want to do next are included in this in depth article by Al Jazeera English (written by Massoud Hayoun).
American women share the stories of their abortions
Last week, Robin Utz went to Washington. Utz, an American woman from the Midwestern state of Missouri, arrived there during the confirmation hearings for President Donald Trump's choice for the nation's highest court, which Trump has indicated he would like to ban abortion in the United States.
Additionally, I am eager to see Abortion: Stories Women Tell on HBO tonight at 7 pm CT. It looks incredibly relevant especially since it features individuals on both sides of the debate (which I am always interested in) in Missouri. You can see a preview and read more about it here:
The opening scene of Tracy Droz Tragos's stirring documentary Abortion: Stories Women Tell, shows the Missouri state capitol fill with the chant: "All in Christ, for pro-life." Back in 2014, supporters of a proposed extension of the state-mandated waiting period for an abortion-as well as those protesting against it-crowded into the capitol building in Jefferson City.
Thank you so, so much to everyone that's visiting our page.
Most are coming with messages of love and compassion and I couldn't be more grateful, humbled and appreciative.
But if you're here because you disagree, or aren't sure how you feel about our story, that's ok too. I just ask that you be curious and open minded. I may not convince you, and that's ok. I just want us to treat each other like humans and to learn from each other. We're real people. Not just words coming across your screen. Just like you're a real person too.
On that note, this is us:
A little about us: Jim and I have been together for 8 years, and have been married for 6. We love riding bikes, our two spoiled cats (Elliot and Biloxi, the latter a Hurricane Katrina foster kitten that I ended up keeping and who now rules the household). We also love our friends and family, and music (Jim actually works in the music industry). In fact, we had a dance party of songs that Jim had always wanted to teach Grace about the night before her termination as a way to celebrate her far-to-brief life, and say goodbye. I'll share the playlist soon. We couldn't wait to raise our baby girl to explore music, reading and travel, and to just see how her personality revealed itself.
I'll be posting more blogs in the coming days talking about some comments I'm seeing (for example, noting that I call Grace a baby in my Op Ed, and what my stance is on that) and so on. But for now I wanted to share a little bit more about ourselves.
I hope you'll sign up for notifications on this site using the subscribe button below, or via the Facebook page or Twitter:
Our story has been published in the Washington Post as an Opinion Piece. You can see it here.
Please share our story.
It's okay to not know how you feel about our story, and still share it. It's okay to say that too. It's okay to share it and not add any commentary to it. We know we'll face criticism from some for the choice we made, but it's our sincere hope that we can shed some light on the gray area situations that exist around abortion.
Men, too, please share our story. Historically, men have shared our story very little, for reasons I haven't quite figured out yet. I'll likely do a blog post about that in the future and would love kind feedback and perspectives. But the fact of the matter is Conservative men do not hesitate to speak their minds and propose and pass legal restrictions around our options without considering or including stories like ours. We need male allies to speak up with us.
Thank you so much for your consideration of our 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.
A site to discuss the gray area around abortions, and to share our story and stories like ours.
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