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 \u2013 she was thrown out of the program, and sent back home \u2013 while the young man got a stern lecture but no consequences. <\/p>\n
so i told no-one except my boyfriend and two friends i trusted. this was 1970. before roe vs wade changed the law in the us. but abortion had just become legal in new york. i don\u2019t know what i would have done if i had to look for a back-alley doctor. (and i hope no woman in the future has to face that either.)<\/p>\n
i knew i wanted children, but also knew i wasn\u2019t ready. my boyfriend and i had been using condoms and contraceptive foam, but i got pregnant anyway. i scheduled my abortion for a week or so later.<\/p>\n
and while waiting, i started talking to this child\u2019s spirit. i told this spirit that i wasn\u2019t ready\u2026 that if it wanted me as its parent, it needed to wait a few years. but if it needed to be born soon, it would be best to find another family. i knew with certainty that i could decide not to bear this child, that it was my right and my responsibility to decide if i could do it well or whether it would be best to say no. but no matter what i or anyone else does, that does not kill the child\u2019s spirit. the child\u2019s spirit will find a way to come into this world, even if it is not to me.<\/p>\n
the night before the abortion, i began to bleed and went to the hospital. the doctor told me that i had started miscarrying and that it would be best to do the abortion procedure in the morning. which is what i did. i\u2019ve never regretted my decision. i know it was best for me and my future children. and i firmly believe that my communication with this spirit was an important part of this process. i am very thankful for all the loving support and understanding from my boyfriend at the time, from my 2 friends, and from the wonderful nurses and doctors who supported me in my decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
i was 20 and part of a fundamentalist christian group that worked with underprivileged children in new york […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_世界杯2022亚洲预选赛b组 ":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[296],"tags":[335,302,406],"class_list":["post-19971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-abortion-stories","tag-new-york","tag-restrictions","tag-spiritual"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/\/www.k12fl.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19971"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/\/www.k12fl.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/\/www.k12fl.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.k12fl.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.k12fl.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"\/\/www.k12fl.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19971\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/\/www.k12fl.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/世界杯2022亚洲预选赛b组 ?parent=19971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.k12fl.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.k12fl.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}