How do you feel being adopted has affected your opinion on abortion?
I would not have wanted brought into this world and raised by my biological parents. I am so grateful that I was adopted into an amazing family.
Many adoptees have been asked "Aren't you glad you weren't aborted?", what is your response to that?
Yes I’m glad! But that is not necessarily reflected in how I feel about women's health and their rights.
Have you ever felt like your experience of being an adoptee has been misrepresented or used to advance a certain rhetoric? How does this make you feel?
Yes. I was raised Catholic and the argument was often made that “I wouldn’t be here” if my bio mother had aborted me. This is obviously true, but does not change my stance. I was appalled at what the church talked about in regards to abortion, reproductive rights and Christian values. Needless to say, I am not a Catholic anymore.
Can you talk about a time when you felt pressured to have an opinion on abortion?
I have two kids who attend Penn State. I often think, what would I want them To do if faced with an unplanned/unwanted pregnancy? It wouldn’t be my choice and I would stay out of it as much as they wished me too, but we have talked about the “what-ifs.” The only time I felt pressured to have an opinion is while being raised Catholic (by my non-Catholic parents)!!
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