“Women have abortions because they are too old, and too young, too poor, and too rich, too stupid, and too smart” (Tisdale 24). Abortion is a topic that can be filled with conflict. In “We Do Abortions Here: A Nurse’s Story”, Sallie Tisdale uses strong appeals to pathos in the form of detailed stories and intense descriptions to effectively explain the mental conflict that comes with working in an abortion clinic to those who haven’t ever been in such a situation. Tisdale argues that women have the right to choose what they want to do with their bodies. "Abortion ProCon.org" says “Reproductive choice empowers women by giving them control over their own bodies” as a Pro. As a Con the article states that, “Life begins at conception, so unborn…show more content… She often puts disagreeing words together when debating to the practice of abortion. She calls it a “sweet brutality,” a “loving dispassion” (Tisdale 24). She claims to be “struck by the sameness and... by the variety” (Tisdale 22) of the clinic. These conflicting statements show the confusion that Tisdale has about her own feelings towards abortion. The conflict of ideas isn’t just restricted to Tisdale’s choice of language. Throughout her essay, Tisdale switches between talking about the necessity of abortions and the guilt behind them. She logically justifies abortion, describing the fetus as “at least incovenient, sometimes quite literally dangerous” (Tisdale 21) and as “a thing whose creation has been actively worked against. Its existence is an error” (Tisdale 20). However, she also feels guilty for facilitating the abortion. Looking at the fetus in an ultrasound, she comments that she “knows how heavy and correct a newborn cradled feels. The creature... requires nothing from her but to be left alone” (Tisdale 24). Her guilt also reveals itself in the form of “fetus dreams”: dreams of abortions one after the other; of buckets of blood splashed on the walls; trees full of crawling fetuses. I dreamed that two men grabbed me and began to drag me away. ‘Let’s do an abortion’ they said with a sickening leer, and I began to scream, plunged into a vision of sucking, scraping pain, and being spread and torn by impartial instruments that do only what they are bidden” (Tisdale 25). By switching back and forth between logically stating that abortion is necessary and reflecting on her guilt, Tisdale effectively explains to the reader the mental state that results from working in an abortion
