I was married, with one child and in my late thirties when I had my abortion. I had not been on birth control because after our first child was a toddler; we hoped I would become pregnant again within the next year or so. Well the years passed and I never became pregnant back then when I wanted to. As the years went by I was lulled into thinking I would never become pregnant again, which was fine with me. My family and I were happy as things were. After not conceiving for almost ten years, thinking my fertility was now in more of a decline than ever (I was almost 40), given the infrequency of sex as compared to our earlier years of marriage, and knowing my first pregnancy took longer than average to conceive, I honestly thought my chances of ever becoming pregnant again were nonexistent.
Even though we knew we didn't want any more children at this point in our lives anymore, my husband kept putting off getting a vasectomy (although he got one after my abortion) and we refrained from using contraceptives because we never thought there was a need for using them or a desperate need for him to rush out and obtain a vasectomy. But we were wrong.
When I learned I was pregnant I knew it was not the right time for me anymore to bring another child into the world. I couldn't picture myself with a teenager at one end of the spectrum and a baby at the other. There were many other reasons why this was not the right time for me to be a mother again and through it all I have come to believe that women know when the time is right for them to bring a child into the world. People need to understand that the right to obtain a legal and safe abortion is every woman’s right and she should be able to obtain one without fear or moral judgment.
I have often heard women say they would never have an abortion, but its not until the reality hits you square in the face when you find out you are indeed pregnant at the worst time; a time when you absolutely don't want to be pregnant nor do you feel you can devote the emotional and physical energy it takes to be pregnant, give birth, and raise that child to become an independent and responsible adult. Women know their limits and should not feel ashamed to admit them.
The choice to terminate a pregnancy is not always an easy decision to make, and the women who make this choice deserve to be treated with respect because women, like men, should always have a sense of control over their bodies and their futures.
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