i remember one morning reaching to take out my cervical cap (it was the late 80s) and realizing it was not properly lodged. sure enough, i was pregnant.

i was 24, had a professional job, and in a stable relationship (in fact we were engaged). and yet, i was not ready to be a mother. i had an abortion — and didn’t tell anybody, not my mom, not my sisters, not even my best friends until much later. . . . i felt that i couldn’t tell, because i had no “good reason” to have an abortion and i’d probably feel shamed. but still, it felt like the right choice and i/we have not regretted it. 25 years later, i’m still with the same man, we have three lovely children, and only rarely do i wonder what our lives would have been like had we not exercised our right to choose back then. i still don’t talk about it. but i do give money to support women’s reproductive health and abortion services, because every child should be a wanted child, and every woman should have the option that i had back then.