She looked at Dr. Fletcher. 'At first, I didn't want to be preg-nant. Abortion was the easiest way out. I thought. Then, too late, I began to have my doubts. It was as if everything I had been told about abortion didn't matter. I had been told that a fetus wasn't human, that it only had the potential to be human. That made sense before, but then I thought about it. Isn't a baby only a potential teenager? A teenager a potential adult? Did I have the right to draw the line between potential and actual with the stroke of a knife? When I found out that my baby had survived the abortion, that there hadn't been any abortion at all, I felt tricked, robbed. It took me this long to realize that I was the one who was tricking and robbing. I tricked myself into thinking that having an abortion wouldn't be killing a real human being, and I almost robbed Renata of her chance to live.' She turned to face Karen.
'I won't rob her a second time.'
Looking back to the jury, she said, 'I ask you to think about the life Evelyn Fletcher saved. I want you to consider what would have happened to Renata if Dr. Fletcher hadn't rescued that fetus that I wanted killed and implanted it in Karen Chan-dler. I want you to remember that Karen and David wanted this child and I didn't. They took her in when she could not speak for herself or provide for her own survival. I abandoned her to die, and they saved her.
'I had no duty to keep Renata alive. Neither did they. We all made our choices freely. But where I thought my only choice was my freedom or Renata's death, Dr. Fletcher knew there was a third path-freedom and life.'
She paused, gazing for a moment at the empty chair at the plaintiff's table.
'I ask you to think of me as someone who abandoned her child with full knowledge of the consequences. And I demand that you acknowledge both my ability to make and my obliga-tion to abide by a simple contract. Then justice will be served.'
She looked at Johnson for a sign. He nodded.
'Ms. Dalton, are you making this statement under duress?'
'No.'
'Have the defendants or anyone else offered you any com-pensation for saying what you said?'
'Not at all.'
Johnson looked at her carefully, gauging her emotional state.
'Valerie,' he said, 'do you love Renata?'
Tears welled. 'I love her with all my heart. I've given her my blood. I've-' She fumbled with her vest and blouse, un-buttoning them, spreading the fabric wide to expose the scores of purple marks between her breasts. 'This,' she said, turn-ing toward the jury, 'this is how much I love her.' She let the blouse fall back into place. 'I'm begging you to think about her best interests. If Dr. Fletcher hadn't invented transoption and Karen Chandler hadn't volunteered, we wouldn't be here to argue about her best interests. Renata would be dead. Gar-bage long gone. Think about all the others that could be saved. They're waiting out there. They're dying right now while other women struggle desperately to become pregnant. You have the chance to tell the world that we can and should bring them together. We don't need laws to force them. We just have to let them know the technique exists and then stand back.' She looked around helplessly. 'I guess that's all I have to say.'
'Your Honor, the defense rests.'
Lyang nodded at Johnson. 'You may step down, Ms. Dalton.'
Valerie glanced around the courtroom. Karen and David returned her gaze with tearful smiles. Their hands rested on the table, intertwined in a lover's knot. Fletcher, beside them, gave her an encouraging thumbs up. In her eyes glowed the approval of one who had fought long and hard for her values and had finally found one who suffered just as much to attain them.
The opinions of the jurors appeared to be easy to read. Two of the women dabbed at their eyes, while one of the older men wristed away some tears. The others observed her with a range of expressions from the impassive approval of the oldest woman to an emotional, smiling nod of agreement from the young man.
Valerie rejoined her friends at the defendants' table. Evelyn hugged her, whispering, 'You were wonderful, Valerie.' The Chandlers agreed, turning their attention to the judge when she spoke.
'Do the defendants or plaintiff have summations?'
'No, Your Honor,' Johnson said.
'No, ma'am,' Valerie said when Lyang looked her way.
'Then I shall request the jury to deliberate until such time as they come to a decision.' Lyang took a moment to look over some notes. 'It shall be your duty to decide whether the baby named Renata shall be placed in the custody of Valerie Dalton or remain in the custody of Karen and David Chandler.' She gazed at each of the jurors in
