i came from a childhood with 6 siblings, where my mother died when i was 10 in a mental hospital, a father who had a drinking problem and barely talked to me my entire life. i was in my first relationship at 17 and became pregnant at 18 – i was very naive. my dad and his new wife wanted me out of their house, she emotionally abused me for a year. i felt i had nowhere to turn and was emotionally unstable. the father- my boyfriend, did not want a baby and he didn’t love me enough to stay with me. he was very immature and had a drinking problem also.

the relationship i was in was not healthy, i was terrified and felt there was no one to turn to and no way out but to have an abortion. my boyfriend paid for it and it was done. i still cry for that baby – i’ve always thought he would of been a boy. i often broke down and wanted that baby to love and love me. i went a little crazy after that and my boyfriend left me. my baby boy would be 40 years old now and i still wonder where he went and sometimes i pick out a star on a dark night and tell him i’m sorry and hope that he understands. i am thankful however that i was able to make that decision about my crazy messed up life. i see these men writing these laws against abortion and i would like to put fetuses/babies in their stomachs in a life like mine and i’d like to see what they would do. i’d like their male bodies to change with pregnancy throughout their lives and imagine how their life is going to change forever if they have the baby, when they were 18, 24, or say 31. that they will probably be the main caregiver, many times without support for the rest of their lives and i wonder what they would do. i feel if they had to deal with this decision we would not be discussing any laws being passed.

the laws would be in favor of pro-choice for men -no question. i’ve gotten therapy for my crazy childhood and dealing with depression and met a good man and had 4 beautiful children. i still think i made the right decision and if there is some judgemental god out there i feel he would understand my decision. having an abortion is a very deep personal decision for a woman and no one has the right to take that away from her – it is her body and her life.