Back in the Seventies when it was normal to have fun sex and enjoy recreational drugs, I was on the pill but.... nothing is 100%. I knew I wasn't going to marry my boyfriend and I planned on going to college so I decided to have an abortion.
I'm sure this is a momentous decision for some women but for me it was just a procedure. I never married, spent years traveling around the world, had a terrific life and never had children. No regrets about anything except selling my co-op in Manhattan.

If you get AIDS from a blood transfusion people feel bad for you. If you got it from sharing needles or having unprotected sex with multiple partners you deserve it. Similarly, if you get pregnant through rape or incest you'll get sympathy, if not you're a dumb slut. And so on.

This method forstalls the judgement.

I totally agree with this woman. It's irrelevant to the discussion of the right to decide one's own fate and over one's own body. If you think it's wrong, don't do it. If it's against your religion, trust your diety to deal with those who transgress. Mind your own damn business!

Me? I am against abortions but I don't lose sleep worrying about people who get them, nor am I walking around with jars of fetuses. That's between people and their DEITY

should be applied to the "why" about abortion.

Why did I have an abortion? Why do you ask? What difference does that make to you? Do you think if I tell you then you will be able to justify it in your own mind for me? Or, perhaps, you will tell me why my reasons just weren't good enough? Do you believe you know more about me than I know myself or do you think you know more than my doctor?

How I get pregnant doesn't matter. Why I have an abortion doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that I have the choice to preserve my own life and body safely and legally.

This was when Falwell and others were running around saying AIDS was God's punishment for gays. They ran pictures of everyone, a couple of hundred as I recall, who had died in one week from AIDS (this was when a year or two was the typical life span after diagnosis). You could tell some were gay men, but the impact of seeing an elderly nun, several infants, kids of all races--was very powerful in changing the dialog. Many of them had contracted the disease from transfusions, so the 'God is letting this happen' argument died a quick and well-deserved death.

By the way, I'm old enough to remember when Life did a similar spread by showing all 200+ US casualties of the Viet Nam war. I still think that had a lot to do with changing the attitude of the public.

I have had two abortions. TWO.


The reasons why are not relevant.
What was relevant is that I had safe access to a medical procedure.

I have always tried to be honest about my choice, with the single exception of not telling my mother -- once again -- it is a personal reason as to why and not relevant to my having this procedure done. I don't regret these choices, and aside from my mother I have never felt the need to be quiet about it. If it needs to be discussed, I discuss what I chose to do.

A situation such as this arose when a teenage close to my life approached me about it. She asked, I told.

We discussed it without guilt or shame and it proved to be a teaching moment for both of us. I'm very proud of this young woman. Very proud that she understands choice. I am proud that she felt comfortable enough to come to me to knowing it would be without judgement, but rather a pragmatic and realistic discussion about an emotional and incredibly personal decision. I wish more people were able to do so.


This was a very powerful piece, one that brought tears to my eyes for it honesty and bluntness. I plan on sharing this. Thank you.

Awesome