I found out that I was pregnant in November of 2020, and immediately was freaked out because I had an IUD. I knew that I was at risk of an ectopic pregnancy, so I made an appointment with planned parenthood ASAP. I told my (very Catholic) boyfriend, and the first thing out of his mouth was “you’re getting an abortion right?”
I went to planned parenthood and they confirmed the pregnancy. The nurse that helped me asked if I wanted to know various things like if there was a heartbeat, if they were twins, etc. and I said no to all of it. I wasn’t going to give it any more thought.
Because there was supposed to be an IUD in my system, and then there wasn’t when they did the exam, they decided the best route for me would be a surgical abortion to ensure that the IUD wasn’t still in my body in a place where it shouldn’t be (which I disagreed with, why not just get an X-Ray to see?)
I met with the surgeon, and due to Ohio Law she had to inform me that a) there was a heartbeat detected and b) that I could be a mother and deliver a healthy baby. I started crying and having a panic attack right there. I’m a student. I was 20, my boyfriend was 19, and we both are looking at many more years of school in front of us. A child would ruin both of our aspirations and the plans that we had made for our lives.
I left the clinic with my roommate and was harassed by pro-life protestors. When I got home, I called my parents and told them everything. Luckily, I have very supportive and very liberal parents, so they were very supportive. We decided that I would go home to Illinois to get a second opinion of my gynecologist, and we did just that. My boyfriend and I had to take a week off of school and work in order for me to get actual healthcare. In Illinois I was able to get an X-Ray to confirm that my IUD had fallen out, and was prescribed the pills to have a medical abortion.
Even with it being over and me no longer being pregnant, in the following months I had nightmares about pregnancy, being harassed, and not being able to receive the care that I needed. I had flashbacks to the experiences that I had that November so frequently and it was so disruptive that I was diagnosed with PTSD. I’m doing much better now, but this decision that I made for myself, for my boyfriend, and for my family is going to have long standing effects against me because of the treatment I had to endure.
I would never make a different choice, though.
