Bernie thinks, "I felt lucky ... to be in control of my body, self-governing and whole. It was what we all wanted. To choose our own freedom, to choose our own pain." Do you agree with her?

Bernie thinks, "I felt lucky. To have been given the choice, the ability to go back in time and unmake my mistakes. Lucky to be in control of my body, self-governing and whole. It was what we all wanted. To choose our own freedom, to choose our own pain."

Do you agree with her? Do you think she made the right decision to hide her pregnancy from her mother?

Well she clearly also chose to have unprotected sex thus bringing a third person into the equation - one who had no choice. So no, I don't admire her "freedom."

I don't condemn her. She was clearly troubled and acted out of a form of despair, but I cannot celebrate her "choice."

I agree with Lyris; in fact, I couldn't have said it better.

As far as her decision to hide her pregnancy, didn't she almost at different times, but felt like "the time wasn't right"? We also need to realize what type of a role model she had, one who rarely shared information.

I do agree with Bernie, and I think given the circumstances she made the right choice.

I debated whether I agreed with the statement: "It was what we all wanted. To choose our own freedom, to choose our own pain." My first reaction was that no, it's not all I want. But as I thought about what I *do* want, it pretty much did come down to freedom and choice - freedom to live my life as I want, the choice of how to spend the time available to me - so yes, I do think in retrospect that the statement would work for most people.

I do agree with Bernie. I cannot answer for others, but I certainly want to be in control of my body and that includes the ability to make choices. Bernie falters in not understanding the other component of freedom is responsibility. Yes she took responsibility for her choice, but she didn’t think responsibly before she acted. The impetuousness of youth is a powerful thing.

I think it is very sad to regard abortion as a "lucky" way to "go back and unmake mistakes."

Bernie thinks, "I felt lucky. To have been given the choice, the ability to go back in time and unmake my mistakes. Lucky to be in control of my body, self-governing and whole. It was what we all wanted. To choose our own freedom, to choose our own pain."

I don't know if it's possible to "unmake mistakes" - particularly those that harm other people.

If "choosing our own freedom" means escaping consequences, then Brid also seemed able to do that after her IRA venture by fleeing to the U.S. and taking on an assumed name. However, she never could escape the guilt she felt over both that act and her belief that she caused her sister's death by allowing her to go out that night. Even confession couldn't erase the consequences. So - no "freedom" there.

Aoife - and Sean, similarly, couldn't erase the "mistake" of getting pregnant and being subsequently stuck in a marriage and life they both hated.

Since the consequences for Brid and Aoife and Sean also extended to harming their children, I guess one of the reasons we are asked to see Bernie's abortion in the light of "wholeness" and "freedom" is that - since she, like them - was in a bad place emotionally, her decision to end her pregnancy was actually better for her baby than a future life of potential harm. Or, given her emotional state, it was better to sacrifice one life than two (and potentially more if the dysfunctional family cycle continued.)

I absolutely agree with Bernie... the freedom to make our own choices for our own bodies is very important. Often times when we are teenagers, we don't make the wisest choices, but we are the ones who have to live with those consequences in the end. I would not make the decision to get an abortion for myself, but I do believe we all should make the decisions for our own lives and situations. My father recently passed away at the age of 94 and in the end, I believe he willed himself to die, which was very important for him to be able to have control over his life right up to the end.