“’You're 4 weeks and 6 days,’ the nurse said. I was so early along in the pregnancy the nurse had to perform a transvaginal ultrasound to see the tiny sac. ‘Return to the waiting room and someone will call you back shortly.’ I made my way back down the hall, to the waiting room. I sat down next to my friend who accompanied me, I had decided to have an in-clinic surgical abortion and would be undergoing sedation, so I needed someone to drive me home after the procedure. I was

“I was driving to Boston Market when I decided I wanted to write this. It took a gentle shove from a journalist friend, the echoes of angry protestors in my mind, and a heaping pile of mashed potatoes to convince me that writing my story down would serve some greater purpose for someone, somewhere. Someone, somewhere, like me. Today, on Halloween, I had an abortion. Before I tell you about it in full detail, know this: I have no regrets. Yes, I was emotional. Yes, I felt the

“This is dedicated to all of the women who have ever felt alone after choosing to have an abortion. You are not alone, you are loved, you are worthy, and you are still a mother, don’t let anyone take that from you. This is my experience, and it is not meant to change the minds of anyone who already has a belief about how they feel about abortion, but more so to give my account on an experience that changed my life forever. I’m a mother by my own right, a daughter, a sister, a

“25 years ago, I was diagnosed with uterine cysts and modern medicine wasn't even what it is, today. I was strongly urged to have a hysterectomy at 18, despite what I was specifically told would be a huge issue for my hormones and adult development. In their minds, I'd already lived well past when I was supposed to have, but one female doctor pulled me aside and told me that I could ask to opt for a d+c to try to take care of it, instead, which was more experimental, but whic

“The news is filled with horror stories about the continued assault on a woman’s right to choose and I am so grateful that when I had my abortion 27 years ago I didn’t have to walk through picket lines or protesters. A month after I moved to Okinawa with my husband and 3 month old son to take a job as an auditor for the US Air Force when I found out I was pregnant. Living in a new culture and taking care of an infant was not the time to have another child. I was terrified whe

“I had my abortion at 20 weeks. Iit was a two day procedure. I went to an abortion clinic in Atlanta. Wwe live out of state so it was a 6 hour drive one way. Wwe booked a hotel room since I had to go back to the clinic on the second day to fFinnish the procedure. On the first day after you do all the paperwork and get your ultrasound, counseling and pay and wait for what seemed to be like forever, the actual process starts. You're told to change into a gown and you're put i

"I'm 21 years old, currently on a placement year before I go on to complete the final year of my degree in September. I had a drunken one night stand with a guy I didn't even know on a night out in my hometown. I took the morning after pill about 15 hours later and thought everything would be fine but obviously the fertilisation had already taken place, because a week a half later when I was due on my period it didn't come. I waited 6 days until I took a ClearBlue pregnancy t

"It is very hard to write my story because I have to get over the shame I feel for my past situation that resulted in an unplanned pregnancy. Along the years I tried to speak about it to a few people, but I ended up telling half-truths and what I thought at the time were lies. Nevertheless, I knew I wanted so badly to tell my story to a trusting and non-judgmental person. The only one I told the whole truth to was my therapist a couple years later. This is now my true story: