...Women have abortions because they are too old, and too young, too poor, and too rich, too stupid, and too smart. I see women who berate themselves with violent emotions for their first and only abortion, and others who return three times, five times, hauling two or three children, who cannot remember to take a pill or where they put the diaphragm....

American nurse and essayist. Born in Eureka, California, Tisdale earned a nursing degree from the University of Portland in 1983. She has worked as a registered nurse and taught at Reed College, Northwestern University, and New York University. A largely self-taught writer on health and medical issues, Tisdale has contributed to the Antioch Review, Esquire, Harper's, and many other publications. "I am really a generalist," she writes, "drawn to a variety of subjects and points of view, but memoir and the first-person essay are the core of all I do." Her books include The Sorcerer's Apprentice: Tales of the Modern Hospital (1986), Lot's Wife (1988), Talk Dirty to Me (1994), The Best Thing I Ever Tasted: The Secret of Food (2000), and Women of the Way: Discovering 2,500 Years of Buddhist Wisdom (2006). She is a contributing editor at Harper's and Salon.com. See also inlander.com.