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.
–submitted by Elaine* though a member clinic
The reasons are many that each woman decides to end a pregnancy; for myself the list is quite long. I have lupus and am a single 43-year-old woman with three children at home and an adult child. My hands are full with the challenges of what I am responsible for right now and would be made increasingly worse with another child, no partner, and no support to raise a child. It’s a hard and difficult choice to make, and for me the choice took a long time to make as it’s not easy to do.
I will say that without the clinic, I am not sure what I would have done. The medical society out there, where I live, isn’t very helpful and wasn’t giving me the answers I needed. I needed to take care of myself and to be my own advocate. I would encourage every woman to be their own advocate and to do what is best for themselves, whether that is having a baby or terminating the pregnancy, it’s our life that we have to live and we are responsible, not the doctors, nurses, neighbors, friends, etc.
–submitted by Patricia* through a member clinic
*Names have been changed to protect patient privacy