Complex Circumstances

When I was 16, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Every day I live with pain; it hurts to lift my arms over my head, to sit down for long periods of time, to stand for long periods of time. One day, I overheard my physical therapist talking to his colleague about how it would be nearly impossible for me to ever carry a pregnancy without ending up in a wheelchair due to my weak spine. It was so devastating for a teenager to hear that and speaking about it is so difficult. I had to decide from a young age that I personally would not want to risk my condition worse and that pregnancy would not be an option for me. Abortion is so important for people like me because there are so many circumstances that determines one’s choice and these circumstances are often complex. It would be so painful to have to jump over political hurdles when I didn’t ask for any of this to happen to me.