I became pregnant in 1980. Prior to that, the luteal phase of my cycle had been very short, and it was not clear I would be able to get pregnant at all. So my first reaction was RELIEF and HAPPINESS about my fertility. Big yay.
Second reaction was deciding whether to keep the pregnancy. I was in a relationship with the person I planned to stay with and have kids with, so I gave serious thought to keeping the pregnancy. In the end, I decided the timing was not right. At the same time, the pregnancy allowed my partner and me to have productive reflection about our relationship. So in that sense there was a positive emotional consequence of the abortion itself, it was that, and it was positive.
Once I made the decision, the abortion itself was like going to the dentist. No, scratch that. It was a lot easier (and faster) than going to the dentist. No emotional charge whatsoever.
Btw, 37 years later, I’m still with the same partner, and we have three grown kids (all abortion rights activists) and two little grandchildren. My hope is that abortion will go back to being more “regular” again by the time they are old enough to shout their voices and their abortions.
