When you see someone dying in front of you from a direct and simple cause, it's easier to deal with [that] than famine or drought or a more indirect cause. It's overwhelming and frightening and kind of distant, but we do see it every day with plants and animals and species dying.

That's his definition of mercy. This is the year of the Mercy Jubilee of the pope. I know that he's against abortion, but he talks about Christ's emphasis on mercy instead of his emphasis on judgment. He talks about the lack of Christian charity and the pride that are afloat in our world these days in terms of making moral judgments on other people. That's really it for Willie. He's really a missionary.

I don't think in the religious way that most people associate that word with, but Hern is a committed guy. He's doing the hardest job with the late-term thing. I don't think that's easy on a person, especially under the kind of terrorism that doctors of his kind have seen over the past twenty years. He's a tough guy.

Planned Parenthood gave me an award for the Willie Parker story that I was deeply honored by. I didn't get any negative comments. I think the Willie Parker piece had more of an impact on people in that sense because it went deeper into the clinic itself.

There are so many kinds of different feelings - not good feelings - going on in the room, and he comes in with so much compassion. He's a straight talker and pulls them into what feels like a really positive action-struggle kind of feeling. Without seeing that, you might have all kinds of judgments or feelings about what might go on in a place like that. But it felt akin to a spiritual healing more than I could have possibly anticipated.

But then you say, Well, who makes the decision? Does the government make the decision? The reason this is such a national dispute and moral issue for people is because it occurs inside the body of a woman. That makes it really complicated. What are you going to do? Put women in prison? How much do we want the government to intrude on this?

When you see someone dying in front of you from a direct and simple cause, it's easier to deal with [that] than famine or drought or a more indirect cause. It's overwhelming and frightening and kind of distant, but we do see it every day with plants and animals and species dying.