In 1978 I became pregnant for the first time. I was living with my boyfriend in our first apartment located in an old Milwaukee neighborhood. Being only 19 and just trying to find my way in life, I knew I wasn’t ready mentally or financially to be a mother. My boyfriend knew he wasn’t ready for parenthood either. I would have made the choice without him but it helped that he was supportive. There was no question in our minds about whether to have this baby or choose to have an abortion. Thankfully the option was a legal reality. The decision may have been easy for me, but the procedure was an odd and slightly frightening experience. My mother didn’t know, and his Catholic mother definitely would never be told. After it, I felt nothing but relief. It was over.
We couldn’t afford the pill, or maybe I never investigated if Planned Parenthood could assist me in affording it, so we became better at always using condoms. But all it took was one broken condom for me to get pregnant again the next year. Apparently I was as fertile as my mother was. She used to joke that all Dad had to do was look at her and she got pregnant. She only had three children because she was careful and planned for each one, she said. I was not that lucky or smart or careful, I guess. Or maybe she wasn’t completely honest with me? At any rate, I had an unwanted pregnancy for the second time. I made arrangements and ended that one as well, again only feeling relief.
I approached Planned Parenthood to get on the pill. From then on, I was in control of my periods and my fertility. In 1983 and 1985 I had children because I planned for them. I have never regretted my decision to end my previous unwanted pregnancies. I will always be grateful that my choice was legal and available in my city. Thankfully I was the kind of mother my daughter felt she could approach when she wanted to get on the pill. My heart broke when Roe v. Wade was overturned, taking away the choice from future generations of women. We will fight to get back the right to control our own bodies! We’re angry and we’re fierce!
–Cindy