i lost track of the abortions i had — at least five — but thank the goddess i could get safe, legal and affordable abortions when i needed them. i realize in retrospect that while i thought of myself as a strong woman in my 20s and early 30s, i was really a puppet to men who didn’t value me as a person but just someone to get them laid. now i am 60 years old and i never had children and realized that i never wanted them. but i wanted to be loved and seeking that love got me pregnant.

i did use birth control, every one in the book. the only one that ever worked was the pill and that caused me to have high blood pressure so i had to stop taking it. the iud gave me infections, the diaphragm was gooey and slippery and the sponge failed. why do women crave men’s attention and love to the point we’ll engage in what i now feel is pleasureless and pointless sex. if young women read this i hope they realize that you have to look out for #1 because most men aren’t there to protect you. please, young women, work to further the pro-choice movement. maybe you don’t need it but your sisters might.