Era madre de dos en ese momento. Tenía un poco más de 30 y vivía en Canadá.

I saved the ultrasound picture in a dated envelope, stuck it in a drawer and just as I closed the drawer - I closed out that moment in my life. They asked if I planned to continue with the pregnancy, at the tender, scared and reckless age of 18, in a low whisper, I said, “No.”

I was 15 when an uncle by marriage took interest in me. He taught me to drive, bought me what ever I wanted, even the alcohol I asked for. Then he introduced me to marijuana.

I had my abortion in 1971, pre Roe v. Wade, in NYC. I had never been outside my Southern state by myself before and I was terrified.

I find comforting the statistic that 61% of abortions obtained are women who have 1 or more children. It makes me feel less alone.

I was 22. I already had a 2 year old son whose biological father had abandoned us when he was 2 weeks old. I had just ended a one-year abusive relationship. A few weeks after it ended, I found out I was pregnant.