i had an abortion in my thirties. i got pregnant when a condom came off during sex. my partner pulled out before i had a chance to secure it. i love and respect children, so the last thing i wanted to do was to have a child i didn’t want and couldn’t care for— i was a child my mother didn’t want.

i can’t take the pill because it makes me feel depressed. i had used spermicides before, but stopped because it disturbed me that i was putting poison in my vagina and had been doing so for years. i have never heard a discussion about the long term effects of putting poison in the vagina, much less found a study. for two decades i asked for an iud and was refused because the gynecologists were concerned about my future fertility. so was i. i didn’t want to have a child so didn’t want to get pregnant.