i am 77 years old. i was a virgin until i was 21 and didn't sleep around. when i was 22 i was date raped, got pregnant, and couldn't find a safe way to have an abortion.

it was my second year in college when i found out i was pregnant. i did not plan to have kids at all, much less at that time in my life.

i was a 19 year old thousands of miles from family and desperate to find connections. this led me to make many bad decisions.

i had been in a stable relationship for over a year when, despite using birth control, i got pregnant. i had just started college that year and he hadn't started yet.

the hardest part about having an abortion has been allowing myself to mourn the loss of a potential child. i started to share my whole story, but the part that i want to shout from the rooftops is that i can mourn a loss and know i made the right decision at the same time.

i had an abortion in 1978. i was 17. it cost $200 and i never told my parents. i was absolutely not ready to be a parent. at the time, i was a high school drop out working as a cashier at a cafe.