I’ve had three abortions. All occurred during my thirties, the result of failed birth control. I had had two babies in my twenties, by my ex-husband, and was involved in another, long-term, serious relationship with a man who eventually became my second husband.
The circumstances varied. Basically it was a matter of bad timing, bad finances, bad karma, to use the term loosely. I was poor, I was –and needed to continue – working, the future of the relationship was uncertain. While I must make it clear in no instance was it a matter of sexual abuse or life-and-death crisis; neither was it out of simple convenience or indifference that I made my decision, based on the conclusion that an unplanned child would negatively impact my fragile equilibrium. The father concurred.
My point is that abortion is a civil rights issue. It needn’t be a horror story to constitute a legitimate and justified choice. To illustrate, consider the opposing side’s argument, the rallying cry “What about the other person involved?” To them, I respond : what “other person”? An embryo is not a person; indeed it’s a not yet human microscopic fishlike entity. Beyond the legality of the issue, it feels nothing; senses nothing; is aware of nothing. To terminate it affects it not at all.
But to force it to term, unwanted, into an overcrowded world is to put it at a disadvantage tantamount to child abuse, while multiplying the negatives of the family dynamics . Here I must laugh at some of the slogans of the opposition: “All children should be welcomed…: ala Gary Bauer, for instance. He inadvertently makes my point. As for “right to life,” I agree, with the caveat “right to DECENT life.”
I’m not sure what you’re looking for in these personal testimonials, perhaps more specifics, less philosophy. Nevertheless feel free to use my contribution, by all means with my full signature. I’m not ashamed of my story.
