Abortion and Regret

Stevie marveled at how Juanita Dunsmuir was subtly turning the senator's presentation to her favor. Transforming the impersonal Ms. X into a "Jenny" was a stroke of genius. Stevie wished she had thought of it earlier, even though she knew there was no real Jenny in Windsor, North California. By stating Jenny's "regret" at having an abortion, Dunsmuir had purposely introduced a small margin of doubt about the firmness of her formerly unyielding pro-choice position. She was cutting the senator some slack in an attempt to make a few friends in his camp.

Stevie silently acknowledged that the Dunsmuir group had done its homework. While appreciating their effort from a professional standpoint, Stevie's faith in the senator's ability to deal with the clever ploy remained firm.

Juanita Dunsmuir continued her rebuttal. "Elizabeth, an upstanding Christian student at College of the Siskiyous, was abducted at knife point and raped. Discovering she was pregnant from the attack, Elizabeth decided to risk the embarrassment of her condition and the misunderstanding of her family and friends in order to bear the child for the sake of adoption. But when the rapist was apprehended, he tested positive for HIV. In order to spare an innocent child the horrors of AIDS, Elizabeth mercifully terminated the pregnancy."