i was 17 and blinded by love. i had always thought i would remain a virgin until marriage but i fell in love my senior year of high school and all my plans and principles flew out the window. i had a scare just before graduation and told my mother, but she did nothing to get me on birth control. three months later i was just about to leave for college across the country and my period was late.

my boyfriend refused to use condoms so i used spermicide inserts every time, but they failed. i arrived at school alone and pregnant. my boyfriend paid for half the cost and i frontloaded work study hours to afford the other half. i went to the planned parenthood alone and came back to my dorm room and curled up in bed for the weekend. i am grateful abortion was legal, but i grieved the loss of my child for years. i am still pro-choice, but i also know that i ended a life that would now be 31 years old. i have gone on to have two wonderful children. mostly, i wish my mother had stepped up to help me get on the pill when i needed to be protected from my own youthful immaturity. i will not make the same mistake with my daughter. she will have access to contraception and plan b without question or judgment as soon as i even think she might be in that situation.