I had an abortion when I was 20 years old. I don’t regret it at all. Sometimes I think about how my life would have been different had I not aborted, but never in the sense that I wish my life were different than it is now. I don’t wish I had ended up on welfare, I don’t wish I’d created an emotional and financial strain for my family and I don’t wish not to have the wonderful partner I have now.
I’m not sorry that I wasn’t silent about my abortion. Because I speak about it, friends and famiy memebers with unexpected pregnancies know they could come to me as a resource and for comfort.
My decision to have an abortion was sad. I had considered continuing the pregnancy, but I realized that having a baby at that time was a fantasy that I was not prepared to live. I made a well thought out decision, and so I never had to second-guess. I’ve never regretted it. I made my decision keeping in mind how it would affect my family, my then-partner and his family and the potential child that would have been brought into this world. I was at a crossroads, and I chose the caring, thoughtful path.
Although there are those in this country who would try to lead a woman to believe an abortion can never be a caring decision, I know that it is. I work in a clinic that performs abortions and I know that women make this decision because they care for themselvesm, for their families and for their partners. Women make this decision because they care whether or not they are able to provide food, clothing and love for the being they are carrying. Most of these women have no regrets, are not sorry, and neither am I.
