They were looking at temporary circumstances and making permanent decisions. That sadness he and his wife felt was for a good reason. Richter might be a comedian, with a career built around humor and making other people laugh on shows with Conan O’Brien, but abortion is no laughing matter. We want for all babies to have the chance to pursue their dreams, not just those lucky enough to be wanted.

Pro-life people don’t seek to leave families without help and support, they desire the opposite: for all members of a family to be present and able to help. They can tolerate disagreement without rage. People who are at peace and confident in their decisions don’t need to attack others. Planned Parenthood helps a ton of people, and if they don’t agree with that, f- ’em. Richter doesn’t find it difficult to support Planned Parenthood after his personal history with abortion, however, and he wasn’t shy about his feelings about pro-life people: “It’s easy. Richter Hints He’s Uneasy With This Choice They’re unique, each one with limitless possibilities and promise, and snuffing out one because of convenience and whims of parents ends those possibilities. Once that baby is gone, it is gone, and future children don’t replace the life that was lost. Many choices in life are not eternal, but abortion is. That should be difficult, it should be wrenching, and it should not even need to be an option or an easy decision. The lessons that we learn and the growth that can come from pain and grief might be something to be grateful for, but the opportunity to actively cause that loss should not be. No matter how that loss comes about, it is a loss. When a family loses a member, that family is forever changed. It’s possible they’re distressed to know that had the timing of their conception been different, they could have been the one aborted, because that is a terrible thought. One wonders whether they explained that if they had made different choices and had different priorities, there would be another child in their family.Īs their living children grow and become adults themselves, maybe this choice will make sense to them. Since they’re so open about this to strangers and made this a public issue, I’d imagine they’ve already discussed the abortion with their living children. There is no possible way to explain this as the right decision for at least one person in this scenario: the older sibling of the Richters’ other children.

But to this day, I know that she will tell you that she made the right decision. She was sad, and I was sad, and it was sad. She knew that she was doing the right thing for everyone involved. Her choice to get an abortion was a choice that she made with assuredness. I drove from Chicago in my battered old Toyota pick-up to be with her when she went to Planned Parenthood to terminate her pregnancy. My girlfriend knew that she was not ready for motherhood, and I knew that I was in no way prepared to be a father. Luckily for us Planned Parenthood existed. Richter and his future wife, Sarah Thyre, lacked steady employment and were focused on building careers when they found she was pregnant.

Andy richter