one summer when i was 16, i had an abortion. i was brought up in a conservative methodist home in texas. i had gotten pregnant by my boyfriend at the time, we were young curious hormonal teenagers. the pregnacy was terminated at 3 weeks (fetus was approx. the size of my pinky nail). i found out i was pregnant about a week earlier by a pregnancy test. i did not know what to do, i was too scarced to tell my mother, so i ended up telling my best friend’s mother. i knew i did not want to keep it, this was my decision and no one else’s. after talking to my friend’s mom she told me she would help me, but i had to tell one of my parents first. my parents were both divorced and remarried, i ended up telling my stepmother (i was closest to her, and could tell her in confidence). after that we made an appointment at a planned parenthood clinic (which was about a hour drive). i still did not want my mother to find out. my mom ended up finding out that sunday, when i was dealing with the morning sickness. i told her everything and let her know my decision, i think i had broken her heart, she ended calling my friend’s mom and my boyfriend’s parents. a feud started between his parents and mine, they wanted me to keep the baby and said they would adopt it. i explained my reasons to my mom which were: 1. i was too young, 2. it would take away my education and future, 3. it is my body and my decision. my mom was on my side, we kept the appointment. my mother came with me and my friend and her mom to the appointment. at the clinic i received counseling before and after the procedure, the doctors and staff took good care of me. nothing at all like the horror stories the prolife counseling groups tell you. after being released my body had to recover. the clinic sent me home in a old fashion maxi pad held up by a garter belt. i remember having to go on family vacation at a really nice hotel with a big pool (this was torture, i could not go swimming because i was recovering). my boyfriend paid for the procedure by working it off doing jobs for my friend’s parents. i was not allowed to have anything to do with him ever again. i ended up graduating from high school and earning a degree in college. while i was attending college there were times i would see mothers with children about the age mine would have been (this would always make me sad). ten years later i gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, who is now in 3rd grade. i am now not so sad. my decision changed my mother’s stance on the issue, she told me she was getting involved at our local planned parenthood and talking to girls who were in similar situations. i feel i made the right choice for me, it was once in a lifetime decision, i don’t ever wish to do it again. growing older i have become more open with my story, still having peers who are prolife. it saddens me to see texas forcing clinics to close, which will make it very difficult for women in the future to get this procedure. why bring another unwanted child into this world, when there are so many born into abusive homes and those who are given up and never adopted. every woman should always have the right to make their own choice and not be labeled as a murderer for their decision.