Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood's Choice Leader

Dee Dee Myers, former press secretary for President Clinton, spoke first: "How do we preserve people's urgency about choice?"

"I'm surprised to hear that 90 percent of Planned Parenthood's services has nothing to do with abortion," noted another woman. Around the table, others nodded soberly.

"We need to get back to the planned parenthood part of the debate," added someone else.

"Have you all thought about a name change?" asked Anne Dickerson, a former news producer with two small children and the wife of Slate's White House correspondent, John Dickerson.

"Don't change the name, take it back," said Dori Salcido.

Richards shifted the discussion:

"Is this an issue you vote on?" she asked.

"No." "No." "Absolutely." Two women said they didn't know: They had always voted for people who happened to be pro-choice Democrats.

"I think America's tired of the barn burning down," said Julie Eddy, echoing Dickerson's comment that the abortion debate rolls around so often "it feels a bit like crying wolf."

Still, Dickerson noted, "I want to hear that you guys are gonna hold the line on abortion."

Which brought Richards back to one of her signature points: "This is an opportunity for people to think about who's in the governor's office, and who's in the state legislature." Because "for the average person, Congress and the Supreme Court seem very far away."

And she believes, she said repeatedly throughout the day, that "most people think women and their doctors should be making this decision. Regardless of how they feel about this issue, they don't want to be making doctors and women criminals."