After being placed in foster care, I found myself living in shelters, and on the streets. I was a teenage alcoholic, living in a nightmare of loss and pain. My choice to have an abortion saved my life, as the pain of giving birth to an innocent child with fetal alcohol spectrum would have surely driven me to end mine. Now, 15 years later, I’m the proud Mother of a little girl, I’m a university student, and I’m living a life of balance and freedom. We have safety, love and joy in our family, and I’m proud of my choice to have an abortion because it allowed me to build a good future for me and my daughter. Yesterday, the Canadian Center for Bioethical Reform dropped off grotesque pamphlets, and I was reminded that many other Canadian woman and girls are still facing people who want to silence and shame women for making decisions about their bodies and lives. Abortion is nothing to be ashamed of, and I want every woman out there to know that taking control of your body and life is a right that has been fought hard for, and we should not allow a group of misguided people enforce their religious hate filled message into Canadian society. We will not be shamed, we will not be silenced, and we will not go back into the kitchen.
