I was 17 and blinded by love. I had always thought I would remain a virgin until marriage but I fell in love my senior year of high school and all my plans and principles flew out the window. I had a scare just before graduation and told my mother, but she did nothing to get me on birth control. Three months later I was just about to leave for college across the country and my period was late.

My boyfriend refused to use condoms so I used spermicide inserts every time, but they failed. I arrived at school alone and pregnant. My boyfriend paid for half the cost and I frontloaded work study hours to afford the other half. I went to the Planned Parenthood alone and came back to my dorm room and curled up in bed for the weekend. I am grateful abortion was legal, but I grieved the loss of my child for years. I am still pro-choice, but I also know that I ended a life that would now be 31 years old. I have gone on to have two wonderful children. Mostly, I wish my mother had stepped up to help me get on the pill when I needed to be protected from my own youthful immaturity. I will not make the same mistake with my daughter. She will have access to contraception and Plan B without question or judgment as soon as I even think she might be in that situation.