WOW. Every so often, I come across a piece that just floors me, and this is definitely one of those pieces.
"Abortion" starts out by describing the community in which the story takes place. Listeners may stereotype the small town in which "the church is the community, and the community is the church", but even I, living in my Green-party dominated hippie haven, was surprised to hear that even the town's doctors wouldn't talk.
We then meet the story's protagonist, a young woman named Ruby with an unwanted pregnancy. Ruby starts out hopeful about her pregnancy, saying that she is willing to keep the baby, even if it means leaving her husband behind, but soon begins to have second thoughts, and in the most harrowing part of the story describes an attempted home abortion with a coat hanger.
This piece provides a timely and relevant look at an issue that is increasingly politicized, and its most effective quality is that both the narrator and the protagonist change their minds about abortion over the course of the piece. The very simple style adds greatly to the emotional gravity of the piece: instead of being edited into sound bites, Ruby's story is allowed to tell itself with no interference - the hallmark of an excellent radio piece.