I’m at the Civil Liberties and Public Policy conference.

I’ve got so much work to do before I present – twice – tomorrow that I am typing so furiously that I am nearly exhausting THE MUSCLES IN MY FINGERTIPS.

I just attended an abortion speak out.  If you’ve never attended one, it’s a simple concept.  Around the parameter of silence, respect, and in stigma-free zone, people walk up to the mic and tell their story of having an abortion.

As a listener, it’s not the time to hold up your GO ROE sign or your picture of the mom and baby that reads LOVE THEM BOTH.  It’s just a time to listen to these stories.  And if you listen you hear more than just their human voices.

You hear about the conditions and situations these women were in as young as 12 years old and put in positions to decide what to do.  You hear about the common everyday stories of girls and woman who were backed into a corner and had to make a decision, often alone, afraid, and left with guilt that I cannot really fathom.

This is the heartbeat of abortion, I thought.  These are the faces and stories of abortion.  Tomorrow, next week, next life can be about politics and debates, but tonight I just want to listen to these women and what happened before, during, and after this life altering decision.

The tagline for women who suffer from the stigma of having an abortion is to “break the silence” and tell their story.  As a listener, I think, for everyone in the United States on either side of the fence, my tagline would be for all the shouting and ranting and feuding and killing and bombing and shooting and blaming and shaming and snearing and protesting and raising all kinds hell to STOP.  STOP THE NOISE.  Let them break their silence and you –  you and me – we should be listening.  Maybe if we do more of that we can figure out something a bit more than pro choice vs. pro life agendas that wage war on each other so loudly you can’t hear a thing.

Listen.  It’s revolutionary.