My story is the one even some pro-choice “advocates” avoid recognizing; the story that nobody wants to discuss. I’m the person who could’ve had a baby, for whom everything probably would’ve turned out fine. But I didn’t. I had an abortion and am happy that I did.
I was 22, engaged and 10 months away from my wedding day. My fiancé was working as a pharmacist. I was in law school. We absolutely wanted to have children of our own… some day. I wasn’t on birth control (and knew I should’ve been). We got a little tipsy on Valentines Day and didn’t use a condom. The next morning I realized I was dangerously close to my ovulation window and knew I had to be on the lookout for my cycle. Sure enough, my period never came.
I contemplated continuing on with the pregnancy for a few hours, but knew that abortion was the best choice for my future family and for myself. I had a surgical abortion under twilight sedation at approximately six weeks pregnant. I had an IUD placed at the same appointment.
My husband and I have been married for 12 years. We have three lovely children, fulfilling careers, and I’m actually carrying another couple’s child as a gestational surrogate.
Abortion didn’t weigh heavily on my heart. It wasn’t a flippant decision, of course, but it was anticlimactic. I wasn’t traumatized, sad, or filled with regret. I don’t think about what life might’ve been like. I don’t consider what child might’ve resulted from that embryo.
Should I have been on birth control? Yes, probably. Did I engage in risky behavior? I mean… sex is normal between consenting adults. Could we have managed having a baby back then? Yeah, we could’ve made it work. But none of that matters. Safe abortions should be available to any person who wants one. There are only two circumstances that matter: 1) That a person is pregnant, and 2) That they don’t want to be pregnant.
