I got pregnant at 17 and knew for sure I wasn't keeping the baby. It was the summer and I just got done with my junior year of high school. I had a lot I still wanted to do with my life and school wise I wasn't even done with high school.

I was 16 years old and it was 1975 (5 years after Roe V Wade) and I was dating a 19 year old who had been sexually active. We started dating in 1974 and I had been able to avoid having sex.

At 17, I graduated high school early with honors as a student heavily involved with my community. A few months later, I jumped a bigger and more dangerous hurdle:
I got out of a 4-year relationship defined by abuse that culminated in repeated intimate partner rape.