i am 61 years old and had an abortion when i was a young woman. it was a legal abortion, performed in a clinic, and there were no complications.

i was 20 and part of a fundamentalist christian group that worked with underprivileged children in new york city. if i had told any of the leaders, i would have been sent back to my church and family in shame. that had happened to another young woman i knew – she was thrown out of the program, and sent back home – while the young man got a stern lecture but no consequences.

i had two abortions in my early twenties. one pregnancy resulted from a long-term relationship and birth control fail; one resulted from a fling and a lack of birth control. in both cases, the decision was right for me. i was a single mother, barely making ends meet, and i needed all of my energy and all of my income just to support the son i already had.

on new year's eve 2013 i found out i was pregnant. i knew i needed an abortion. the next day i was hit with all the emotions. i pictured what my life could be if i had this child. for a month, i went back and forth not knowing what to do. i was a mess. i read pregnancy books, i googled pictures of what the fetus looked like each week.

my husband and i realized we were pregnant just a couple weeks after he received orders.

i was raped at the age of 11. not only was my childhood taken from me, i feel as if my whole life has been taken from me. i am 20 as of now, and yes, i conceived from that nightmare, at a very very young age.