when i was 18 i got pregnant. abortion was illegal then and i couldn’t find the back alley. the boy, his parents and my mother pressured me to get married. all the money i had saved for college went for maternity expenses.

when i was 8 months pregnant i got my first black eye. i was careful with birth control but the next year i got pregnant again and by then i had no money for an illegal abortion even if i could have found one. we had sex often, i was less likely to get beaten when we had sex. but the next time i got pregnant abortion was legal and affordable. i feel that the abortion i had saved my life. as soon as i could i fled with my children. i traded abuse for poverty, but at least we were safe. i could never have made it with three children. i will always be grateful to the clinic for saving me and my children, for saving my life.