"I tried to commit suicide to stop the pain and shame of having been molested and the consequences of it."

“They indicated that if she chose to keep the fetus, then they would have ethical issues in providing the recommended treatments.”

“When the doctor departs, my Catholic mom says, ‘Do not tell anyone about this.’ This is shameful to her.”

“I screamed; I fought; I pleaded with him not to do it, but he did. He raped me and then left as quickly and silently as he had come.”

“I never thought I'd be 40 when I had my first abortion, already a mother and happily married. But life rarely pans out as pictured.”

“He didn't offer to help pay for the abortion, question my decision, or offer any kind of emotional support. I learned later that he married within the year.”

“With no savings account, we were financially unprepared to bring a child into our lives.”

“One of my readers wrote about a friend's agony as she searched for a lead to a back-alley abortion.”

“There would be no escape with a baby.”

"If my fallopian tube had been allowed to rupture, how much harder would my path to pregnancy be?”

“My mom insisted on filling the prescription at a pharmacy in the next town over from ours because our local pharmacist would know that I was sexually active, and we couldn’t have that.”

“I was on birth control pills and got pregnant anyway. Neither of us wanted or were capable of taking care of a child.”

“I can’t imagine what could have happened if he found out I was pregnant. But I’m so glad I’ll never know.”

“Here I sit in a fertility clinic lobby, waiting for yet another blood test, knowing very well what the risks are of living in a highly conservative state and continuing to try to have a successful pregnancy.”

“I'd had no idea that almost all of the women in my friendship circle had abortions as young adults. They spent hours and many tears telling me about their physical, emotional, and financial experiences of abortion.”