The price of silence

David Gunn Jr. has written a painful and poignant account of his father’s estrangement from his family over politics and, more particularly over abortion. Dr. David Gunn was, as you will remember, one of the first casualties of anti abortion violence aimed at doctors. His son chronicles that history so that we can see, tragically, how silence about the divisive issue of abortion strains and breaks relationships. Gunn’s family of origin supposedly did not know he performed abortions until he was killed for it. There is a multiplier effect going on about silence. Silencing was going on not just in Gunn’s family but all the families around them, so there was no chance for normalization, even though, as David tells the family history, they would have chosen abortion  personally in spite of extreme disapproval publicly. Read this account for a detailed look at how silence kills.