I remember one morning reaching to take out my cervical cap (it was the late 80s) and realizing it was not properly lodged. Sure enough, I was pregnant.

I was 24, had a professional job, and in a stable relationship (in fact we were engaged). And yet, I was not ready to be a mother. I had an abortion — and didn’t tell anybody, not my mom, not my sisters, not even my best friends until much later. . . . I felt that I couldn’t tell, because I had no “good reason” to have an abortion and I’d probably feel shamed. But still, it felt like the right choice and I/we have not regretted it. 25 years later, I’m still with the same man, we have three lovely children, and only rarely do I wonder what our lives would have been like had we not exercised our right to choose back then. I still don’t talk about it. But I do give money to support women’s reproductive health and abortion services, because every child should be a wanted child, and every woman should have the option that I had back then.