Over one-third of women of reproductive age have an abortion by the age of 45. However, women who have chosen abortion are often absent from the public debate. In order to break the silence surrounding abortion, we will be featuring real stories from real women each Wednesday on our blog. If you would like to share your story with us or have it published on our blog, go to http://www.prochoice.org/pregnant/hotline/share.html.
I was a college student in 1994 when I had my abortion. It was the right choice for me because I was single and it was an unplanned pregnancy.
I assumed getting my abortion would be a simple doctor’s visit, but I was wrong. In the state of Ohio, before I could have my legal abortion, I had to listen to the pros and cons of abortion and childbirth via the phone; pick up a brochure sponsored by the state on fetal development; and wait an additional 24 hours before my procedure to give me time to “think.” The hoops I had to jump through were meant to dissuade me, but instead they just made me more determined to have it.
This was the first time I really started to take charge of my sexual health and became aware of how restrictive state abortion policies can affect ordinary women like me.
This experience started my interest in pro-choice politics and led me to become a clinic escort so other women wouldn’t have to face what I did. In my escort work, I’ve been grabbed, and my openly gay friend was attacked and hospitalized with a concussion and six broken ribs. My attacker was convicted of criminal trespass, and my friend’s attacker was recently acquitted.
¬–Submitted by Nina* through our website
I was raped in December 2007. When I found out I was pregnant, I told my mom that I wanted an abortion. My mom blamed me for being raped, but even though she’s against abortion, she took me to the clinic. She thought it was better for me to have a safe, legal abortion than to attempt to do it myself in an illegal and dangerous way.
Every time I hear someone say she isn’t able to get an abortion that she wants or needs, I can’t help but think “what if my anti-choice mom hadn’t taken me to get an abortion? What if my mom had cared more about her views on abortion than about my life?” I’m just glad that my mom valued my life more than her abortion views.
I’m pro-choice because I think all women and girls should be allowed to make their own decision about whether to carry a pregnancy to term or get an abortion. In a perfect world, everyone would place more value on the lives of women and girls than on their anti-abortion views.
–Submitted by Amanda* through our website
*Names have been changed to protect patient privacy