I live in Missouri where abortion is now illegal to perform. My experience was scary and expensive, as I had to drive out of state to get the medical care I desperately needed.
I was on birth control but I was also dating a severe alcoholic narcissist who got me to drink with him often, and I must have missed a pill or two because I fell pregnant about 4 months into the relationship. I was terrified because I didn’t want a child with him, he was messed up and sadistic and sometimes violent. Also, I already had a 5 year old daughter to care for, and she needed me to focus on her.
So out of state I went, thankfully I found the clinic Hope, and they were able to give me a free abortion instead of the planned Parenthoods projected $500. Without their help, and their rainbow people (people who stood outside to shield us from the hateful crowd screaming at us that we were murderers) I might be in a very different place. Instead of going back to college, and finding a stable successful job, I might be still living with an intolerant angry drunk and a child I couldn’t possibly afford to raise outside of extreme poverty.
The whole experience made me angry, angry for myself, and my daughter, and any woman who could possibly have to face a heartbreaking and difficult decision that stays with you forever, on top of worrying where and how. That the government has the audacity to control us, and make our lives harder. Hopefully these words reach someone who needs to know my story.
-Kat