“I could have been the girl who gave birth in the bathroom stall,” Sharon Stone told Michelle Obama and Obama’s brother Craig Robinson on a recent episode of the siblings’ podcast, IMO. The actress got pregnant at 18 and at first didn’t realize she was — not until her boyfriend noticed she had gained weight. (She says her parents thought it was “the Freshman 15.”)
She previously wrote about her subsequent abortion ordeal in The Beauty of Living Twice (2021). She had a hard time getting an appointment in Pennsylvania so went to Ohio.
Back at home after the procedure, “I was bleeding all over the place and far worse than I should have been, but this was a secret and I had no one to tell,” she said. “So I stayed in my room and bled for days. I was weak and scared and then just weak.”
With Obama and Robinson, she declared: “If men got pregnant, you could get an abortion from a vending machine.”
The former first lady thought this was hysterical: “There would be the birth Olympics . . . there would be trophies given.”
As it happens, here’s one in Poland, of all places. From The Guardian:
They call it the “world’s first parcel locker for abortion pills”. Polish campaigners have launched a new means of distribution as part of their ongoing effort to skirt the country’s near-total ban on abortion.
Painted pink and framed by zebra-striped curtains, the 22-compartment “AbortOmat” in Warsaw allows women to access the pills swiftly and anonymously using a six-digit code. The service was envisaged for those who cannot or do not want to wait days for mail delivery due to a missed miscarriage or health complications, or who worry about receiving the pills at home.
“And why not?” said Kinga Jelinska, the director of the Women Help Women foundation and co-founder of the Abortion Dream Team, the two groups behind last week’s launch.
“You can order underwear, cosmetics, mascara, whatever and receive it practically the same or next day,” she said. “Why not abortion pills, where in some cases there might be more urgency?”
Some New York City colleges have emergency contraception in vending machines, by the way. It’s also generally available for delivery on Uber Eats. And they are far from alone.
And there is the fact that it is easier than ever to order abortion pills — and without a prescription.
I get her point — that women often suffer from abortion in silence. And it’s now more than ever. It’s not a laughing matter. And the abortion industry makes it worse, not better. The more abortion, the more accessible — the more widespread and deeper the misery. And education about sex has more to do with anthropology about the human person, not ubiquitous contraception and abortion.
God help us. And especially the young. Because we are often laughing, distracted, and not helping.
In Praise of a Birth Mom
I recently had an interview scheduled with the CEO and executive director of Save the Storks. A main part of their mission is investing in mobile units to get basic women’s health care around to women who need it — including, in no small way, pro-life care for pregnant women. They will have ultrasound availability, counseling, resources to help a woman see that continuing the life within her is plausible.
As we connected, though, Diane Ferraro made a mention of her birth mother. I hadn’t known she was adopted. “Edie” — I asked her name so I could pray for her — was in an ICU. Diane told me because it was very much related to the interview, but I didn’t want her to have to continue with me. I insisted she not worry about the interview; we could pick it up anytime.
We reconnected exactly a week later. Edie had died.
So what I thought was a fairly general check-in turned into the honor of a tribute to Diane’s “Edie-mom” — what she called her after they became a part of one another’s lives once Diane sought her out in adulthood.
Listen to Diane talk about her grateful experience of adoption and the work of Save the Storks here.
Among other things, there are almost limitless possibilities for the opportunities those mobile units can provide — she talks about how they were able to get a sex-trafficking front shut down in one location because of the mobile-unit presence.
Slouching Toward Suicide
Canada this week supposedly gave up on expanding assisted suicide to the mentally ill. But Amanda Achtman from Dying to Meet You reminds us that many mentally ill people already do qualify:
In Canada, if you’re depressed but able-bodied, you don’t qualify for MAID.
But, if you’re depressed and use a wheelchair, you do qualify for MAID.
Canada already euthanizes people with mental illness if they also have a physical illness, disability, or neurological condition.
Just call it what it is. MAID — “Medical aid in dying.” Assisted suicide. Euthanasia. Doctor-assisted suicide.
Mercy!
I’m as guilty as anyone, but my patience has evaporated for clinical and euphemistic ways of talking about legal suicide. Can we please stop with all the euphemisms and modifiers when we are talking about a death that involves doctors? Suicide is suicide. And homicide is homicide. In “assisted suicide,” we are really talking about the latter. A requested homicide.
I know this is not a winning battle. Just call it a reality-check aside.
This issue involves some of the hardest of human experiences — questions involving living and dying in the midst of suffering — that feels acute, whatever it is. Sometimes people are facing terminal diagnoses. Other times, an expedited death might be — or appear to be — the more convenient choice for someone, economically, emotionally, or otherwise. But such things are never without heartache.
The other day, I noticed a New York Times email flagging an advice column question: “My Partner Died by Suicide. What Should I Tell People?” Why is this even a question in a paper that supports assisted suicide? Why would it be an awkward situation if all we are talking about is freedom and choice and about autonomy, as we are told? How is suicide any different from the assisted-suicide policies the left has been cheerleading?
Shouldn’t others understand and buy into the euphemisms? Why are you worried they may not?
It reminds me of how when England’s Parliament held its vote in September about assisted suicide, how it came immediately after a day dedicated to preventing suicide.
The culture of death makes us incoherent.
Life in the Garden State
New Jersey pro-life activists gathered in Trenton on Thursday for their annual state March for Life. Stalwart defender of mothers and the unborn Congressman Chris Smith delivered a hopeful message focused on a rededication of efforts, especially when it comes to practical resources, unconscionably under attack by the pro-abortion left.
Today’s March for Life is an engraved invitation to all of us to seriously recommit and rededicate ourselves, with love and compassion, to tangibly assist women — especially through the extraordinary work of pregnancy care centers — in order to protect their precious babies and their own lives from the violence and cruelty of abortion.
We stand in absolute solidarity with First Choice Women’s Resource Center and remain encouraged by the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous 9–0 decision last April.
As you know, pregnancy care centers are on the front lines of providing compassionate care to mothers and their precious children — offering free support and resources, which can range from pregnancy tests and ultrasounds to parental education programs and lactation consultations, and much more. . . .
Each and every one of these centers is an oasis of love, compassion, empathy, and respect, offering quality care for both mothers and their precious children. Yet state governments, like New Jersey, and some lawmakers seek to discriminate against pregnancy care centers by violating fundamental conscience rights to compel complicity in abortion.
We can never highlight the good work of pregnancy-care centers and other pro-life resources enough. And we can never do enough to build a culture of life and civilization of love.
Other Things
Los Angeles Times: Los Angeles Couple Found With Mansion Full of Surrogate Children Is Charged With Abuse
Thomas More Society: Sweeping Court Order Shields Catholic Hospitals and Religious Health Care Workers from Illinois Assisted Suicide Law
Ed Mechmann: Fulton Sheen’s Answer to Assisted Suicide
Chuck Donovan: Henry Hyde’s Work of Life at 50
Christian Post: 4 women, 4 states: What mail-order abortion pills did to us
Charlotte Lozier Institute: The Facts About Unwanted Abortions
N.Y. Post: Pro-life group sarcastically applauds Hochul for plan to destroy 150K abortion pills that expired
Alliance Defending Freedom: Christian woman pleads “not guilty” to fresh charges for standing and silent prayer, arguing that prosecution amounts to “abuse of process.”
Pro-life activist and Ave Maria, Fla., resident Elise Rose appeared on Jeopardy this week. Her daughter had previously been a Jeopardy champion.
Live Action: UNPRECEDENTED: Aborted baby’s estate is awarded monetary damages in lawsuit
The mother was high on methamphetamine and so couldn’t provide consent to the abortion of the “26-week-old viable fetus,” who was declared a person.
Around National Review
• Wesley J. Smith: The Drive to Destroy Catholic Health Care in Canada (and Here)
• Charles Hilu: Susan Collins Is Pro-Choice, but Troy Jackson Is Still Hitting Her on Abortion
• Kamden Mulder: ‘This Is Not Enough’: Pro-Life Groups Blast FDA over Delayed Abortion Pill Review
Me:
• Usha Vance and the Arms of Men
• Resilience & Hope After October 7: The View from Three Years In — a conversation with author/advocate Andrew Doran
• Serenity in Relationship: Meeting Alcoholism in Literature — a conversation with Kenneth Craycraft about his new book, Staying Sober: One Story at a Time: Seeking Sobriety Through the Lens of Literature.
Upcoming
• Calling Young Catholic Professionals in Los Angeles, Dallas, and Denver for a Catholic Social Teaching immersion. Apply for the Leonine Forum here. Deadline is November 2.
• Live Action North Star Fellowship: “Forming a Generation of Pro-Life Leaders.” Applications close November 20.
• January 22, 2027: Life Fest: Because love is the answer. Washington, D.C. Morning of the March for Life.
• March 1–2 2027: Unseen Wounds: Mental Suffering and Care, The Pontifical Academy for Life, Augustinianum, Rome.
Ongoing
Some of us were blessed to pray together yesterday for the repose of the soul of Dovie Eisner, a great witness to the gift that is human life. The pastor of St. Vincent Ferrer Church in Manhattan got uncharacteristically emotional during his homily when he talked about Dovie — who was confined to a wheelchair — walking the golden roads of heaven. And as classic Catholics, we do not assume he is there yet — in case he is still on a road of purification. But his purification also could have been the year and change he spent in a coma. And the years of obstacles most of us don’t have to face. Regardless, God has a reward for him for his faithfulness, and we pray he rests in it posthaste.
That’s all for now — though there are plenty more topics to cover, as there often are. I confess I’ve been taking a night class twice a week and have officially run out of time, as I deliver this late to the patient house editors. Always keep an eye on www.nationalreview.com during the week and my X account, if you do such a thing, at @KathrynLopez. And please shoot me an email with feedback, ideas, questions, and speaking invites — I’m just starting to try to get a sense of the winter/spring calendar. I love getting out there and meeting new pro-life and other ministries, discovering the current campus life (okay, that one I may have to brace myself for, depending on where), etc. KLopez@nationalreview.com
Thank you! God love you!