I was 23 when I got pregnant. It was not from rape, but also not fully consensual. I had internalized not only a “you can’t say no,” but also a “you will die if you try to resist” mindset after a brutal rape a few months earlier. So, even though my partner asked, and I […]
‘It Never Crossed My Mind to Question My Assignments’
I’m an old lady now, but I have had experience with abortion and feel a responsibility to tell about it—as often as anyone will listen. I knew little about abortion until I was in nursing school in the late 1960s. I assisted with surgical abortions through the third trimester. In addition, I took care of […]
‘She Was Given a Strong Dose of Fentanyl’
I had a girlfriend when I was 23—we were not “responsible,” I guess. I was in school, she worked. She got pregnant. We didn’t want to abort, but our parents, both sets divorced and not really “family people,” told us we should, so, late-term, we did. We had already named the baby Peanut based on […]
‘I Decided to Have the Baby, a Beautiful Boy’
When I was 20 and a junior in college I became pregnant. I was in a long distance relationship and searching for love. My boyfriend wanted me to have an abortion. He didn’t want a baby to raise for 18 years and he was involved in some drugs. He would pay for the abortion. I […]
