he was my first sexual partner. we never used any contraception. i was an idiot and never imagined that i would become pregnant, but then i did.

melinda's story

as a mom i know now just how hard and brilliant and intense motherhood is, and i am proud to have exercised my right to choose — twice.

i never regretted my decision to have an abortion. but i regret the amount of fear i felt because of other people's reactions and how that fear caused me to make other decisions i wish i hadn't made.

i have had three abortions. considering that i became sexually active at age 15 and knew then that i never wanted to give birth, and i am now 44, i think three is a pretty small number.

my husband and i decided to have an abortion early in our marriage. we still prefer to remain childless. the pressure to explain our choice to not have children is itself bad enough; the current cultural taboo of admitting an abortion is strangling.