I was 26, addicted to cocaine and became pregnant by my then boyfriend. He wanted to marry me when he found out, but I was in no state to have a child and I had no interest in this guy long term. My mother begged me not to do it, although she had two abortions of her own in the 40’s when they were illegal and dangerous. She said, “surely with all the people in this family, we can raise this baby”. But she didn’t know about the drug problem I had. I knew what I had to do and went to the doctor to verify the pregnancy test was accurate and scheduled the surgery.

It was the most painful thing physically and mentally that I have ever endured, but I know I did the right thing. I found out they aborted twin fetuses, so I killed two people that I will never know. I am good with it still, had I not made this choice, my life would surely be crap. And the “kids” would have been malnourished and probably brain damaged. It was my choice to not have a rotten life and I thank those who fought for my rights to a safe, legal abortion.

I am married to a fantastic man, we celebrated 30 years of marriage. We have no children, by choice but support the rights of all women to make the decisions that are right for them, at the time.