I was 25 and in an abusive relationship with a much older partner. He tried to pressure me into keeping it by saying it was his last chance to have a child (he later cheated on me and got someone else pregnant). No regrets. There were religious protestors outside the clinic passing out pamphlets and he read me one of those pamphlets in the waiting room of the abortion clinical despite, despite having no religious affiliation, to put pressure on me and making the whole experience more horrible than it needed to be. I had a fever for several weeks afterwards while he continued to be furious with me. Again, no regrets, but it was unnecessarily traumatic.

I've never had an abortion, so please disregard this if it's not what you're looking for. I was brought up in a religious household, with my parents openly against abortion. I always believed the choice should be up to the pregnant person, but I didn't know if I personally would be able to mentally/emotionally get over my upbringing and have an abortion myself if I needed/wanted to. Then, I had 2 (planned) kids. Now that I know what that entails, I am vehemently pro abortion for anyone who wants one. If I ever get pregnant again I will absolutely have one, and I am privileged to live in a country where I could do that without much trouble. No one should be forced to continue a pregnancy or become a parent against their will - that is absolutely barbaric. I stand in solidarity with everyone who has had an abortion, wants an abortion, or who has been denied one.

I had been with my partner for six years and had our first daughter together when I became pregnant a second time, shortly after my caesarean. I was completely shocked and wasn't sure I could cope with a second pregnancy so soon, but the doctor immediately told me if I tried to carry the baby full term that I would die and that the baby would likely die too, leaving my partner alone with our daughter. I agreed to have an abortion and the doctor booked me in for one there and then. The procedure went well and I was never mistreated but the stigma of abortion meant that I had to keep it a secret from everyone. I spoke to a therapist years later and have many unresolved feelings about it, especially a feeling of anger against my partner who said he would "be careful". It makes me so angry that people always assume it's all the woman's fault, and that abortion is something to feel guilty of. Men always talk about the fight for survival being inherently natural and human, but if a woman wants to preserve her own life she is evil, even though there was a great risk that neither I nor the baby would have lived. Abortion must be the right of a civilised society. Pro-lifers are nothing more than misogynists, and should be treated as any other fanatical group. It's 30 years later, and I haven't regretted my decision, though I am still traumatised by the whole thing and would never want my daughters to ever have to go through the same thing. My abortion was just as "easy" as the haters claim, yet if they had an ounce of compassion they might realise that it was one of the worst episodes I've gone through, and trauma is not a stranger to me.

1. I found out that I was pregnant when I was 17, through not using contraception, during my A levels in 1977. I had no steady boyfriend and was about to finish school. I had no problem terminating the pregnancy at about 14 weeks. 2. My husband and I discovered I was pregnant, though I had an IUD, just before we were setting off on a year's travelling in 1990. I had no problem terminating the pregnancy.

Growing up, I heard countless stories about the trauma of abortion – that it was an agonising decision, an agonising experience and the source of a lifetime of regret. Nothing was ever presented in a positive light… I got pregnant at 22, after the first time of sleeping with the very good friend who became my boyfriend and then years later my husband. I had just got my first ‘proper’ job, and was excited about building a career. Having a baby was not part of the plan! I was told by the doctor about to do the op that afterwards I’d feel awful, emotionally and physically. I’d never been in hospital before, so it was all unknown. But I had no doubts, and felt an inner confidence (unusual for me at that age) about my decision to go ahead with it. I was entirely supported in my decision by my partner. (I do realise how lucky I was.) Afterwards I did not feel awful – I felt free. The op was on a Friday.. I relaxed over the w/end and was back at work on the Monday. I have never regretted it. In the same way that I have never regretted cutting my hair or my nails – I simply had a few cells removed. I believe it’s quite wrong to pile emotional baggage on to a person having an abortion – it’s simply healthcare.

Accidentally pregnant with our fourth child. Finances and emotional strain were already pushed to the limit, i decided that i had no choice but to end the pregnancy. Toughest decision of my life, and the knock on effecfs were massive, but i still dont regret it. It had to be done for the sake of the kids i already have. What lawmakers need to undedstand is that no woman takes abortion lightly. We live with that decision, that journey, forever. So no-one has the right to make judgement on that. There should only be support, so that each woman decides correctly, and with knowledge, on the massive decision she has to make once pregnant.

I was 17 years old and I got pregnant. First feeling was surprise. So am I fertile then? I didn't want the baby and I went to the hospital to have an abortion. My mom signed the consent for me. It is legal in Italy. Or it was, they want to reverse the right also there. I had only this abortion. It wasn't particularly shocking or terrible but it would be having that baby if I couldn't have the choice. I had 3 kids after and no other abortions. I say that because some anti-abortion campaigners are using the argument that when you start you'll never finish. No! My abortion helped me to take control of my body also realuse the risks snd never have to be in that condition in the future. My family was affectionate and caring but also pointed to stop being silly and shallow. I love my children but I wouldn't love that baby if I had it. I was shocked when I learnt that in an old democracy as U.K. is there's not legal abortion. It has to be allowed by two doctors?! Who will grow up that baby and what way?

I was 30 when I discovered I was pregnant, I wasn’t in a position to have a child and at the time I was travelling abroad in a country where access to abortion is illegal. I contacted BPAS as soon as I found out and made an appointment for when I returned to the UK. I have never regretted my decision to have an abortion. If anything, the experience made me thankful that I live somewhere where access to safe abortion is available to women.

I was 17 (am 48 now). I told my mum very soon after I found out and she supported me completely. I always felt very lucky to have that. I was 10/11 weeks when the abortion was done and it was done under general anesthetic, that was another thing I've always been very grateful for. I struggled with my emotions around it for a very long time, probably up until I had my first son. Although my mum supported me there wasn't much talking about it afterwards, until I had therapy at 24 years old. I've always known that my decision was the right one for me at that time.

I was 17 just passed my driving test, the two people I would talk to, one had just had a miscarriage and the other had just gone through ivf. I needed to talk I tried help lines but they only had recorded messages. I went yo the gp who very embarrassed just asked the necessary questions then sent me on my way. I drove myself to the hospital thinking I would just drive myself home. They put me on the ward with all the new babies, eventually into a side room, the nurse they gave me was I would say about 7/8 months pregnant, I was made to feel absolutely shit. It xame to the moment I had to sign the paperwork qnd put down my next of kin and the guilt hit me that if something happened I would really hurt my sister who I had put on the paperwork, so I called her. She then phoned my cousin who came straight up the hospital. She had to go to work so sent her partner to pick me up, the looks this poor man that had nothing to do with my situation received was horrible I felt so shit. I went back to their's coming back the next day to collect my car and because it had already been arranged I had to go shopping for baby bits for my cousin baby. The whole situation made me feel less than a person, I was treated in such a horrible way. I only hope this doesn't happen now but in my heart I know it probably does and it makes me sad. I will say I should have talked to my mum but I wanted it to be my decision I didn't want to be influenced by anyone. My mum had a child at a young age and so did my sister, I wanted to break the cycle.

I had an abortion at 5 weeks (I discovered I was pregnant at 4 weeks and was told I had to wait until five to have a medical abortion.) i know a lot of people who have had them and every one said that at that stage it is no worse than a severe period. Unfortunately that was not the case for me as one of the two sets of pills I had to take didn’t work, meaning so my body was trying to expel the cells through a cervix that was not prepared. I was in so much pain I passed out, vomited continuously and was admitted by ambulance to hospital for two days. Amongst several humiliating moments whilst there, I saw a Dr who told me the pain was normal & I was I quote, foolish to have expected anything less than contraction level pains as my body was ‘expelling a baby’. ? (Male Dr of course.)

He said “he’s going to cum in me and there’s nothing I can do about it”. It was during lockdown and nothing was available. I had to rely on anonymous strangers on Reddit to explain to me what would/could happen and share their real life stories. I had one in person scan and the remaining appointments were over the telephone to quite a rude lady. Abusive boyfriend refused to come with me to my appointment or be there whilst I was taking the tablets for the abortion, and instead updated me on his fifa score throughout the day through text. The next day I had a rock hard feeling in my stomach that wasn’t explained to me, so I had to go to an out of hours doctor who suspected an infection, but in reality it was just from cramping for 6 hours non-stop. If it wasn’t for a group on Reddit I would’ve gone into the experience blind. I told no-one apart from my mum & partner what was happening, there’s this massive stigma and shame surrounding it. Now, when I tell people I had an abortion I feel like I have to steel myself. I didn’t kill a child, I stopped 4 week old cells. It was an awful experience as I wasn’t informed, I thought I would take the tablets & I’d be fine the next day. Abortion is healthcare.

I had an abortion last year, after an unexpected pregnancy with someone who I wasn’t in a relationship with. I didn’t feel able to tell him, or my family, only two close friends. BPAS were incredible and I’m so thankful for them. However, as they didn’t have the pills by post contract for my local area (the local NHS board did) I ended up having to pay for my BPAS consultation. The NHS system wouldn’t have been able to keep it off my record, and I wasn’t comfortable handling it locally and I wanted it to be done as soon as possible, the NHS meant I had to wait a week for an appointment online. I realise I was in a very unique and privileged position to be able to afford the consultation fee and not all women would be able to. It saved me so much more emotional trauma by being able to handle it without going to a GP or clinic, and without having to tell anyone I wasn’t comfortable with.

At the time of my abortion I was 38, happily married with 1 step daugther. I was unsure if I wanted children until I became pregnant. At this point, I knew my life would drastically change should we keep the child. It was the winter time and I thought I had the flu, I felt nauseous all the time and was unable to keep food down. I had some spotting and realized a few days later that I didn't actually have my period, and.a test confirmed my pregnancy. I took a hard look at what life with a child would look like and decided to end the pregnancy. My parents were aging and I realized that it was more likely that they would soon need my help and would not be able to help with any child care. My house was too small, I have dogs that do not like children and I would need to re-home. My in-laws helped tremendously with my parents step daughter and I knew it would be to much to ask them to do the same with another child. Selfishly, I did not want re-arrange my life to revolve around a child. My step daughter was a teen ager so i know first hand how difficult the commitment is and didn't want to start all over. It was the hardest decision I ever had to make; having the abortion meant I was giving up the idea of having my own child. I cried, I thought about it, and I prayed to find a way or feel some connection to the life growing inside me. I felt nothing except but fatigue and extreme morning sickness. it's now 9 years later. sometimes I am still sad but I know I did the right thing. My parents developed illnesses and have passed on. My in laws have terminal cancer. I no longer have any type of family support system. we were the support system for my parents for years and now my in-laws. I have absolutely no family that I can turn too; sometimes I imagine life in what it would be like trying to juggle sick and dying parents, my job, and a young child with no support and it just doesn't seem manageable. I imagine our child growing up without grandparents and cousins, and there as never been a time that I regretted my decision, although I am sad that I had to make it. everyone deserves the right to choose for themselves.

I had an abortion when I was 24 - I was switching contraception and was unlucky. I didn’t tell my then partner as I knew he would have wanted me to carry on with the pregnancy and I knew I did not want children. I knew my mind would not have changed and didn’t think there was anything to be gained from that conversation. I told friends at work, so there was no loyalty issues. I’d rather have not been in that situation but I have never regretted it even for second. I split up with the partner after another year and I’m now 39 and still don’t want to have children. I used BPAS and they were incredible, I didn’t feel judged or preached to, I felt supported and respected. There’s no shame to having an abortion, and no need be should be made to feel like there is

My story, what I’m about to say, is very much real, very eye-opening, and has changed my life, forever. I was 20 years old. I had decent grades at university, just got into my first real relationship, secured a job, had a comfy accomodation, everything was going as it should be. I have a faith, I tend to stir away from the word ‘religion’, which is a whole other topic in itself, but I have my reasons. I was going to church every Sunday, praying every night, spoke to God a lot. I felt I was on the right path. I went on the copper coil October 2023. In February 2024, I started experiencing an imbalance to my PH levels, due to the copper mineral throwing it off. Statistics show that nearly 1/3 of women were diagnosed with yeast infections, to which I was apart of. It became February 2025, I was getting tired of my PH always being off, I really tried hard to get on with it, but it wasn’t meant for me. And so… I booked the appointment to get it taken out. The lady at the sexual health centre, was lovely to me, she was just doing her job, what she was taught…it took about a 15 minute conversation of us going back and forth as to why she thinks I should keep the coil in, and why I wanted to take it out. Eventually, of course, she gave in. And so… up I went on the bed, legs up, trousers off, all ready. She began. But there was a moment of silence… a moment my heart felt like it was beating slowly. I immediately knew what was wrong. I knew I must be pregnant. She claimed my coil fell out, it was just hanging in my vaginal canal. It was never placed incorrectly as I went for a check up, guaranteed it had been almost a year since the check up… which you could argue is my fault, but I had full trust in the copper coil working - with again is my naivety. Prior to this appointment, for 3 weeks I have been experiencing such weird feelings. I thought I was psming and I was ill at the time, so assumed the nausea was just me feeling ill. And it may sound silly but, at this time in the world, there were news of the planets aligning and how we could see it from earth. I saw Saturn - looked like a bright star. I hear before how the moon and space is linked to women’s menstrual cycle, i just thought something weird was going on with the moon and stars/planets, which was affecting my mood and cycle. I genuinely thought and believed this. How wrong I could be. How wrong… could I be. My relationship was also breaking down, he was so confused why we were arguing all the time, why I was crying all the time. I felt so confused in myself, I felt not myself at all. Not myself. I was going to university in Northampton, and went back home to Lincolnshire on the weekends. My mother, she is my world, she has saved me in ways no one can imagine. A mothers love , a mothers voices can ground you even when you don’t know what is going on. That was the case with me, but little did I know know, abandoning my partner without giving reason, caused damage to us. Though I didn’t know what was going on either at the time. Back to the clinic room, the lady has me take a pregnancy test. I burst into tears, I didn’t need a test really to tell me anymore. Though just for clarity we did it, and it was of course…positive. I then called my partner and told him the news, he was fully supportive, but didn’t want the baby at all, he wasn’t mentally ready for one, whereas I was, just not financially. Though he means well, I did feel alone in that sense. But, he did the best he could, and I am forever grateful for that. It’s not easy. I then headed to A and E, I was advised to book an ultrasound to check if it’s ectopic or not. As well as just checking everything is okay, due to the lady opening up my cervix, I was at risk for miscarriage. It came to my appointment for the ultrasound, I witnessed its heartbeat, that moment, changed everything for me. I went alone. I just kinda wanted to be by myself. My partner was sleeping. It was the first time I saw my little one. So little and quiet, it stunned me how something so little, can cause so much emotion in me. Positive and negative. It’s truly a magical experience. There were so many signs for me to keep it, but also to not keep it. So many risks and I never miscarried. I never had any complications. It was a battle back and forth of keeping it and not keeping it. I didn’t know what to do. How could i? I’ve always wanted to be a mother , I always wanted to be a mother, so badly. My love is like no other, I truly believe this. And that is what binds me and my little angel together. Eventually I had to make a decision, and by the way things were going for me, I couldn’t keep it. I couldn’t. I *thought* I couldn’t… this little magical miracle baby, would not make it. It became the day of my consultation for abortion. It was just like TV, all women, very bright…cold. I felt like that one character from ‘The Handmaids Tale’… I definitely see that show differently now. The nurse I was with was so lovely, so patient and kind, everyone there was. I had my second ultrasound , everything was fine again. The breakdown of the instructions was hard to hear, I became very emotional. But I felt this was my only choice. I took the package , tool the first tablet that day. Without thought. I was set on my decision 2 days prior. I wish I gave it a bit more thought. But it’s done now. And the beginning of the end begun. I was on my way home, nausea the same, senses all the same. Ultimately nothing different. There was a second set of pills I had to take, 4 vaginally. These pills opened up your cervix for the baby/fetus to pass through. I knew the pain would be difficult, but this type of pain was like no other. This is what I want to raise awareness on. I personally felt I had to look at the ultrasound, I wanted to, this would have been my first child, if I’m going to abort this, I need to fully understand and comprehend what I am aborting. I need to see how real it is, to be as sure as I can in what I am doing. And so, back to taking the 4 tablets vaginally, within 45 minutes, I felt my cervix slowly opening up. The pain was gradual, but once it peaked, it hit hard. I trembled to the bathroom. Suddenly I didn’t want anything on me, so I took my clothes off. I began feeling hot and cold, I knew I needed to throw up. Pregnancy nausea and unnatural nausea were so different. This nausea was not normal, it felt like a cry for help, it felt almost, evil, for me. Like this is not humane. I began to throw up, and my mother came in and comforted me whilst I continued to throw up. Eventually I finished, and sat in my mother’s bed. This then turned into a series of back and forth to the bathroom, only for about an hour for me. Soon enough, massive blood clots were passing through. The first splash of blood I saw, hit me in the heart. What have I done. Am I a monster? I did this..,But I did the best I could in this situation. But does that still make me a monster? Suddenly a soft thing passed through, not covered in blood. It was my little baby. The baby foetus. Just innocently laying there, helplessly. What kind of mother am I? Surely there has to be a better way to do an abortion. The surgical was not an option for me. I just wish there was another way to do this. Some may think I’m weird, some may understand the weird comfort I found in what I’m about to express, but I picked up my little one. Its heart was still beating. Why did no one tell me that there’s a risk the heart is still beating once out of the womb? Is this normal? I waited until it eventually stopped. I sat there, with my little one, until it passed. It was the least I could do in a situation like this. I sent it my love, I send it my love everyday. I saw our umbilical cord that bonded us together, my heart wept at what I caused. Out all of the odds, this happened , a pregnancy, a life, and I still ended it. I wrapped the foetus in tissue and placed it in my draw. I’m not sure what to do with it, but I cannot flush it down the toilet. I could NOT. It is not just a cluster of cells to me. It was a little baby who could not be. The aftermath of that, was just the massive crash from everything. I felt exhausted…exhausted. I could not process anything of what just happened. The last few moments with my little one, I did not even process until the next morning. I was still in agonising pain for hours. Hot water bottle, pain relief did not cut it for me. I ate a slice of pizza and a few potatoes and went off to bed. Called my boyfriend and let him know everything that happened. He then admitted to me, how he would’ve wanted to keep the baby if we had the funds. This made me feel more guilty, and like I don’t know if I made the right decision or not. Not his fault at all, but it would have had more love than I thought, which was one of my main concerns - other than finances. The call ended, I got ready for bed, my mother comforted me, and as soon as I hit my bed, it started to seep in what I had just done. I was scared and didn’t want to face it just yet - yes I know silly and selfish of me, so I called my boyfriend again. I didn’t want to go to sleep alone. That morning, my heart sank. It was time for me to realise everything. I jar broke down. I wrote my little one a letter, prayed for its safety , and continued crying. I cried all morning, I still cry. It’s not even been. day, and I want to raise awareness for the seriousness of an abortion, for what it means not only to terminate a pregnancy, but for the mother terminating it. The process, whether you’re mentally stable enough to deal with the aftermath, whether you have support there for you after. I thankfully do, but I am now battling my own demons. The whole process is gut wrenching, it feels not ethical. Why is there not another way? With all the new amazing technology, is there really not a better way to ethically abort a pregnancy? That is less traumatic? I can’t stop replaying its heartbeat. I’m utterly upset and now have to live with the ‘what if’s’. I am always and will always remain pro-choice, I just wish there was another way for me. Life always goes on, it doesn’t stop for anyone. You think you’re special until the world shows you you’re not. Life doesn’t stop, work doesn’t stop, deadlines don’t freeze, everything carries on. Nothing stops, not for anyone. People who you thought were your friend, let you down in ways you would never do for then. Guaranteed it’s really hard to understand, but a little empathy goes a long way. It’s as if most people are like “Oh.. that’s sad.. poor you. Anyways! When we next going out for drinks ?” I get it though, I do, but this is something I have to live with now. I get there’s worse things in the world, but this is my pain, my grief, my experience. And so now being 21, my heart returns back to emptiness, yearning for something that I can’t get back in this life, I want to spread awareness because I don’t wish this on anyone. Not anyone. I have to live with this empty sinking feeling, to process what I have just done. Although others may have a sense of relief, mine was not the case unfortunately, So… what have I learnt? That life hurts really. That scary things happen to everyone and we just have to get on with it. I’m not alone in this, but I am. If I found out I was still pregnant tomorrow, I’d end up keeping it, and that alone I feel says a lot. Thank you so much for reading. Jessie

I had to have an at home abortion after the changes made for treatment during the pandemic. They gave me a number to call if there were any complications. When I started to experience things that I didn't know were normal or not, I called the number. I kept calling the number and no one answered. I didn't have access to the support that I needed when my body was going through an accelerated change. It was frightening. Fortunately in the end I was ok. But I worry for people who really need the assistance. The absence of the person on the other side of the telephone line makes me worry severely about the state our healthcare services are in. How many people have suffered the consequences of this? Is it even discussed? It felt like I went through my whole abortion process alone with a couple pills.

At 7 a.m., the morning after Election Day, I sat in the bathroom stall of a Publix, staring at two red lines on a pregnancy test. I think I already knew. The shock wasn’t there—just the confirmation I had been hoping to avoid. Before I knew it, life flashed before my eyes. I was running a business during this time, and, in a way, it mirrored the pregnancy itself. For so long, I hadn’t been pouring love or passion into it anymore—just this buried sense of obligation that had made me forget why I’d started in the first place. If this unexpected pregnancy taught me anything, it’s that doing things out of duty rather than love breeds a quiet resentment, a gap that isn’t easily bridged. The best option for us was to go through with an abortion because a baby should be born out of love and not unspoken obligation. Luckily for me I knew the exact date of conception. The only date in weeks for that matter. It happened to be exactly 4 weeks from the moment I found out. My state of Georgia statutes a 6 week abortion ban. I was safe or so I thought. The closest and earliest appointment I could find was three hours away, so the next day, the father and I set off on what felt like a kind of pilgrimage, if I had to call it something. The weather was dreary that day, and the clinic cast an even heavier shadow as I sat in the silent waiting room. No phones allowed—just blank stares and a thick silence filling the tiny room, broken only by the sound of a solitary TV screen. They called me for my ultrasound, my feet straddled uncomfortably in a room dimly lit by the gray sky filtering through the slits in the shuttered windows. The nurse’s words made my heart sink to the pit of my stomach: “6 weeks, 4 days,” she said, the words slipping from her lips without a hint of sympathy. That’s not possible, I thought, and I echoed it out loud: “What do you mean?” She repeated herself, unflinching. I was confronted with an unfortunate truth few realize—those two extra weeks, counted from the first day of my last period, made it official. I was already considered six weeks along, though insemination was just four weeks ago. By that logic, every woman with a period was already pregnant and for me It was too late. My only option was to go another two states over to North Carolina. I booked the appointment, and four long days passed—two of them spent struggling to keep anything down. Then, the father and I began our second pilgrimage, this time even farther, a four-and-a-half-hour drive to Charlotte, North Carolina. You can always tell who works for the clinic and who devotes their days to harassing women outside. Brutal and relentless doesn’t even cover it. Unlike last time, the day was bright and sunny, and the workers greeted us warmly. To my surprise, I felt a sense of ease as I stepped through the clinic doors; the atmosphere was heavy but somehow lighter. Time moved slowly for everyone in there, and the waiting felt like a trial of its own. After hours, I finally reached the finish line—eight of us, crammed together in a tiny room, sharing a silence only we understood. After a few minutes, the group began sharing their stories. By the end, it was no longer about the circumstances behind each choice, but the real lives of the real people in that room—a mother with an eight-month-old, another with two kids already, and plenty of people that just weren’t ready. We weren’t defined by our pregnancies anymore but by the lives we lived, the people we cared for, the commitments we held. I had started this journey alone, weighed down with a mess of emotions, but I left with a truth that too many ignore. This wasn’t a room of murderers or heartless souls. These were women who, in their own ways, were the real pro-lifers, because choice or not, every one of us had made a decision to put someone else, born or unborn, before ourselves.

I had newly moved to London to sort out my head and my life after leaving a violent ex-boyfriend. I was in a consensual relationship and using contraceptives but we know nothing is 100% effective. I found out I was pregnant while temping and living in a temporary flat-sit. I just was not ready. I had an abortion as early as they would do it. Seven years later I gave birth to the first of my three wonderful children. I had rape flashbacks during each birth but was strong enough by that stage to cope, earn money and care for my kids.

A20Woman20Wishing20she20was20a20rabbit20ORGINAL20.pdf.pdf

My husband and I fell pregnant, we both knew it was a bit too soon, we’d only just moved house and gotten married after 8 years together. We knew we weren’t ready for the huge change that a pregnancy and child would bring and had a medical abortion at around 7 weeks. It was a tough experience, but definitely the right decision for us. We are now about to give birth to our first child! Access to an abortion helped us to make an informed decision about when to start a family, and I am so grateful to have that option and make the decision about my own body.

I was 23, broke because my then partner controlled my finances, I had moved to a new town with him and was stuck. Realising I was pregnant, and getting an abortion, was actually a really positive thing for me, when I see it with the benefit of hindsight - it woke me up to how stuck I was and made me afraid of being stuck with him for life. I did the pregnancy test when he was away for a weekend visiting 'his brother' (he was actually staying with another woman he was secretly also in a relationship). He tried to encourage me to keep the child, because he said it would 'help him try and get better'. That's when I realised I couldn't stay, and realised how afraid I was of having to stay. I left him 6 months later, when I was able to. The abortion was a lonely time. I was cut off from friends and family, and I was unable to speak about it to my mum who is anti-abortion and I was worried about the conversation. It's only now I realise how much stigma I was seeing abortion with. Now, my day job is helping people to get abortions and I am an activist, fighting for our right to abortion. It is one of the most vital kinds of healthcare, for so many people for so many reasons. I cannot bear to imagine how my life would have turned out if I couldn't have accessed one.

I’ve accessed abortion care twice in my life. The first time was when I was 18 years old (2009) and in a relatively new relationship and had fallen pregnant. I didn’t have a car at this time so had to get a taxi to the clinic. In the taxi the driver pretended to now know the purpose of the clinic and asked what my then partner and I were getting up to. I felt ashamed to say where I was going and why, and felt like I had to justify what I was doing. This shame was carried with me as I sat in the waiting room next to other ladies who were in tears and when it was my turn to be seen I was led through for a scan to establish gestation and without asking me was shown the image on the screen. I was overwhelmed. I was scared. I couldn’t make sense of what happened. So, I left that day without having made a decision on what to do, and I didn’t return to continue with the procedure. The second time that I accessed abortion care was in 2018. I was married and already had two beautiful children. I’d struggled with my menstrual cycle being irregular and varying for some time so hadn’t realised that I had missed any periods, so was 13 weeks pregnant at the time of realising and confirming this, and 16 weeks pregnant by the time I was able to be offered an appointment at a clinic. My journey on this occasion, although plagued by the shame and guilt that I had felt back in 2009, looked and felt much different. I expected to be hounded outside the clinic by pro-life activists, and I expected to be forced to see the foetus on the screen again, and be asked to justify or further legitimise my decision. In reality, none of this happened. From my very first call with my GP, all the way through to the discharge from the clinic on the day of my abortion, and the subsequent conversations with my GP as follow up to this I was treated with respect and dignity and with the acknowledgement that I was making the right decision for me at that time. I came away at the time, still emotional, but without any of the compounding guilt and distress that would have come with what I had previously experienced and expected. I look back on the situation now still comfortable with my decision, and with gratitude for the professionalism and compassion I was shown throughout my time accessing that care. Abortion care is necessary and will always be so, but how this happens - on both a micro interpersonal level and macro policy/cultural level - changes lives.

The year was 1958, long before Roe v Wade became part of our lives. I was just 17 years old and it happened the very first time I ever had sex and it was with my then boyfriend. A few months later I had symptoms of the flu, which would have been better than the truth, I was pregnant We were so naïve and thought we were in love. My mother made up her mind immediately and began to search for a “doctor” that would give me what was an illegal abortion A butcher who worked in the shadows without assistance, anesthetics, or sterile conditions. Usually, when you could find one in the alleyways of a city, either they had lost their license to practice because they killed someone during a procedure, or they never had one to begin with. She searched far and wide before finding a “butcher” and paid little attention to his “resume.” It was a time when desperate women and girls were using wire hangers and other draconian methods to abort a fetus many ending up bleeding to death on hospital lawns. Within a week I was summarily dumped off at the “butcher’s” lair and left for an indeterminate time. Little did I know it then, but I was about to descend into proverbial hell. I never knew this Butcher’s name, only the killing field location, a derelict house next to a vacant lot in Los Angeles. Inside this aging eyesore, were the same signs of disrepair now translated into the furniture and drapes that hung by wisps. The aroma of cinnamon and pine crept into my thoughts. I could almost smell that and kept it at the forefront of my mind. I kept repeating the words cinnamon and pine, cinnamon and pine, until the scent almost became real and helped to keep my mind off what was about to happen to me. I kept focusing on my own private little world of fine smells, allowing them to creep into the reality of my desperation. The “butcher” spared no time in removing most of my clothing and laying me naked on a metal table in an empty tomb-like room upstairs. I was now half-naked, and imprisoned on this metal apparatus, with no one around but the “butcher.” I held tightly onto the heart-shaped amethyst that hung around my neck. No one was there to rescue me and the only voice that would answer me back was my own. He stuck a towel into my mouth and told me to “Bite down on this and don’t scream, the neighbors will hear you.” Terrified, I obeyed, bit down on the towel, held the small amethyst heart tightly, and screamed as if I were being murdered anyway. In truth, my innocence died that day. The pain was unbearable as he worked to insert something inside of me. Then I felt something warm and moist on my private parts. I couldn’t believe it and kept trying to focus on the momentary cessation of the pain. More warmth, less pain for a moment before I realized that it was his tongue on me. I almost couldn’t breathe as I had never experienced anything like this before. It was so frightening, but I was powerless to say anything. I would have preferred the pain at that moment to being sexually abused. It was a secret I kept for a lifetime and never told my parents because I didn’t think they would believe me. Once the abuse and the pain ceased, I found myself sobbing on a small bed in a tiny room. His very pregnant niece came in to comfort me and told me she would never allow her uncle to touch her and instead was having her baby at St Annes Home for unwed mothers. That really made me even more terrified. Her words made me so sick I went into the bathroom and threw up. Her lack of confidence in the “butcher,” the man who was her uncle, made me wonder why my parents didn’t love me. How could they have thrown me into this den of terror? At that moment I hated my parents for risking my life. Later that night I snuck down the long and darkened hallway, past the aroma of death and alcohol to the telephone. A long string protruded from in between my legs. On a tiny table there was a black rotary dial phone with a heavy lead-like receiver. I lifted the receiver and dialed. The clicks of each number shattered the silence of the empty hallway. The dial clicked as I called home and every ring shattered my eardrums. I could hear laughter from down the hallway and I felt like a cornered animal cowering on the dirty floor. The rug was old and tattered. It had a far-away feel to it, like something from the Far East or maybe even from Persia. For a moment I wished I was in Persia, or Tokyo anyplace but there. But I was here in a dark hallway that reeked of alcohol and dampness, wearing a hospital-type, open-back gown, that told a tale of shame and near madness. My parents must have been mad to do this. The incessant ringing! Oh my God, what if they aren’t home, what will I do? I thought of death as I began to hyperventilate. I thought of my baby and my life. Was I in a dream? Where was I anyway? OMG, I want to go home. At last, someone picked up the phone and I heard my mother: “Hello,” she said in a questioning tone. “Mother, mother,” I remember whispering, fearful of the noise in the hallway and the laughter that broke the sound of my own heart pounding. “Mother, mother it’s me. Please come and get me. He is going to kill me, I know. I want to come home.” I cried desperately. “No, we are not coming to get you until this is over.” The silence was deafening, as a dial tone rang in my ears. My plaintive wails were like the sounds of death. I felt like I was going to die this very night, and no one cared, not even my mother. I would never forgive her. I wrapped myself in a corner of the Persian rug. I could almost hear the cries of babies lost forever into the stillness of the night A stream of light woke me up and I was startled and confused so I made my way back to the room where I was to sleep that night. I had no concept of time and space and only wanted to get rid of the smells of mothballs, alcohol and death that surrounded me. I was 17! Why did I need to be witness to all of this? What crime had I committed that I was to be punished to near-death? I fell into the soft mattress and wept for what seemed like months. A sharp pain woke me once again. This time I staggered in a half-sleep to the small hospital-like bathroom that joined the tiny room that housed me. It was covered with old broken porcelain tiles The intense pain brought me back. It was sharp, like a knife through my insides. It was so intense it frightened me. What did I do that was so very wrong, I wondered? Then I saw it, the long white string that was dripping between my legs. What is that I wondered? What should I do? My 17-year-old mind was darting from one thought to another. Night covered the window like a blanket of ink and there were no stars lighting the sky. I am dying right here, right now and no one, not a soul except the Butcher’s niece cared one single bit about me. I had gone to hell, alone for love. I tugged on the white string. Nothing happened, so I tugged on it again, harder. I pulled and pulled this white string to nowhere, ignorant of the consequences of my actions. Suddenly this thing fell out of me and It lay there in the toilet beneath me. This thing, this apparatus that had just been pulled from deep inside of me that had a larger rubber piece on it that looked like part of a kitchen baster. What the hell is this and what had I done? Oh my God, please don’t tell me that I am going to have all that pain again. Please God, don’t let him do that to me again. I was terrified by the thought of the agonizing pain and the abuse and begged the Universe not to let it happen again. I remembered the moment, a day earlier, when I had felt what seemed like a tongue and lips on me, but no I thought, how could that be? The tongue was warm, and the lips were hot as they probed the outside of my clitoris and the moist warm skin that surrounded it. I felt nothing but disgust and horror and wished it would be over. and it happened the very first time I ever had sex and it was with my then boyfriend. A few months later I had symptoms of the flu, which would have been better than the truth, I was pregnant We were so naïve and thought we were in love. My mother made up her mind immediately and began to search for a “doctor” that would give me what was an illegal abortion A butcher who worked in the shadows without assistance, anesthetics, or sterile conditions. Usually, when you could find one in the alleyways of a city, either they had lost their license to practice because they killed someone during a procedure, or they never had one to begin with. She searched far and wide before finding a “butcher” and paid little attention to his “resume.” It was a time when desperate women and girls were using wire hangers and other draconian methods to abort a fetus many ending up bleeding to death on hospital lawns. Within a week I was summarily dumped off at the “butcher’s” lair and left for an indeterminate time. Little did I know it then, but I was about to descend into proverbial hell. I never knew this Butcher’s name, only the killing field location, a derelict house next to a vacant lot in Los Angeles. Inside this aging eyesore, were the same signs of disrepair now translated into the furniture and drapes that hung by wisps. The aroma of cinnamon and pine crept into my thoughts. I could almost smell that and kept it at the forefront of my mind. I kept repeating the words cinnamon and pine, cinnamon and pine, until the scent almost became real and helped to keep my mind off what was about to happen to me. I kept focusing on my own private little world of fine smells, allowing them to creep into the reality of my desperation. The “butcher” spared no time in removing most of my clothing and laying me naked on a metal table in an empty tomb-like room upstairs. I was now half-naked, and imprisoned on this metal apparatus, with no one around but the “butcher.” I held tightly onto the heart-shaped amethyst that hung around my neck. No one was there to rescue me and the only voice that would answer me back was my own. He stuck a towel into my mouth and told me to “Bite down on this and don’t scream, the neighbors will hear you.” Terrified, I obeyed, bit down on the towel, held the small amethyst heart tightly, and screamed as if I were being murdered anyway. In truth, my innocence died that day. The pain was unbearable as he worked to insert something inside of me. Then I felt something warm and moist on my private parts. I couldn’t believe it and kept trying to focus on the momentary cessation of the pain. More warmth, less pain for a moment before I realized that it was his tongue on me. I almost couldn’t breathe as I had never experienced anything like this before. It was so frightening, but I was powerless to say anything. I would have preferred the pain at that moment to being sexually abused. It was a secret I kept for a lifetime and never told my parents because I didn’t think they would believe me. Once the abuse and the pain ceased, I found myself sobbing on a small bed in a tiny room. His very pregnant niece came in to comfort me and told me she would never allow her uncle to touch her and instead was having her baby at St Annes Home for unwed mothers. That really made me even more terrified. Her words made me so sick I went into the bathroom and threw up. Her lack of confidence in the “butcher,” the man who was her uncle, made me wonder why my parents didn’t love me. How could they have thrown me into this den of terror? At that moment I hated my parents for risking my life. Later that night I snuck down the long and darkened hallway, past the aroma of death and alcohol to the telephone. A long string protruded from in between my legs. On a tiny table there was a black rotary dial phone with a heavy lead-like receiver. I lifted the receiver and dialed. The clicks of each number shattered the silence of the empty hallway. The dial clicked as I called home and every ring shattered my eardrums. I could hear laughter from down the hallway and I felt like a cornered animal cowering on the dirty floor. The rug was old and tattered. It had a far-away feel to it, like something from the Far East or maybe even from Persia. For a moment I wished I was in Persia, or Tokyo anyplace but there But I was here in a dark hallway that reeked of alcohol and dampness, wearing a hospital-type, open-back gown, that told a tale of shame and near madness. My parents must have been mad to do this. The incessant ringing! Oh my God, what if they aren’t home, what will I do? I thought of death as I began to hyperventilate. I thought of my baby and my life. Was I in a dream? Where was I anyway? OMG, I want to go home. At last, someone picked up the phone and I heard my mother: “Hello,” she said in a questioning tone. “Mother, mother,” I remember whispering, fearful of the noise in the hallway and the laughter that broke the sound of my own heart pounding. “Mother, mother it’s me. Please come and get me. He is going to kill me, I know. I want to come home.” I cried desperately. “No, we are not coming to get you until this is over.” The silence was deafening, as a dial tone rang in my ears. My plaintive wails were like the sounds of death. I felt like I was going to die this very night, and no one cared, not even my mother. I would never forgive her. I wrapped myself in a corner of the Persian rug. I could almost hear the cries of babies lost forever into the stillness of the night A stream of light woke me up and I was startled and confused so I made my way back to the room where I was to sleep that night. I had no concept of time and space and only wanted to get rid of the smells of mothballs, alcohol and death that surrounded me. I was 17! Why did I need to be witness to all of this? What crime had I committed that I was to be punished to near-death? I fell into the soft mattress and wept for what seemed like months. A sharp pain woke me once again. This time I staggered in a half-sleep to the small hospital-like bathroom that joined the tiny room that housed me. It was covered with old broken porcelain tiles The intense pain brought me back. It was sharp, like a knife through my insides. It was so intense it frightened me. What did I do that was so very wrong, I wondered? Then I saw it, the long white string that was dripping between my legs. What is that I wondered? What should I do? My 17-year-old mind was darting from one thought to another. Night covered the window like a blanket of ink and there were no stars lighting the sky. I am dying right here, right now and no one, not a soul except the Butcher’s niece cared one single bit about me. I had gone to hell, alone for love. I tugged on the white string. Nothing happened, so I tugged on it again, harder. I pulled and pulled this white string to nowhere, ignorant of the consequences of my actions. Suddenly this thing fell out of me and It lay there in the toilet beneath me. This thing, this apparatus that had just been pulled from deep inside of me that had a larger rubber piece on it that looked like part of a kitchen baster. What the hell is this and what had I done? Oh my God, please don’t tell me that I am going to have all that pain again. Please God, don’t let him do that to me again. I was terrified by the thought of the agonizing pain and the abuse and begged the Universe not to let it happen again. I remembered the moment, a day earlier, when I had felt what seemed like a tongue and lips on me, but no I thought, how could that be? The tongue was warm, and the lips were hot as they probed the outside of my clitoris and the moist warm skin that surrounded it. I felt nothing but disgust and horror and wished it would be over. Please make it stop. What was he doing to me? He was giving me head. The Butcher was giving me head. I lost myself in guilt and anxiety. But held tightly onto the heart that gave me life. I was dying! The Baby Killer had his tongue in me, as a prelude to an abortion that I didn’t want. Oh my God, help me, someone please help me. I am going to die on his table. Death must have been too good for me, too easy, as there I was, staring into the toilet bowl at this large rubber bulb, tube, and string, all of which had been inside of me. That must have been why I was having the pains. I can’t let him do that to me again. Oh no, please no more. The cold tile floor became my bed for a time, while I tried to understand what had just happened to me. I dragged myself back to bed and lay there comatose until the sun peeked into the bathroom window and startled me back to my surroundings. Weeks later I learned a girl had died on the Butcher’s table the day after my third visit to him. Home was never the same after that day and night. I harbored such resentment, such unbridled anger that I couldn’t forgive and couldn’t forget. I was forced to return to the Butchers lair on two more occasions. The first, because I nearly bled to death after the procedure that left me without our baby. The second, the bleeding stopped totally, and I needed to go back to the Butcher for treatment. I remember that day as if it were yesterday. This time my parents enlisted the aid of my then boyfriend, asking him to come to the house as backup. I was so terrified that I locked myself into the bathroom and refused to open the door. Fear and terror were the only friends I had at that moment. My father tried climbing through the small bathroom window to “rescue” me. I picked up a blue glass jar of bath salts that was sitting on the counter and heaved it through the windowpanes, narrowly missing him. Reluctantly, I came out of the bathroom and went once more to the House Of Horrors. It was only later that I discovered that the Butcher killed a girl the very next day. That could have been me. Recovery is a very slow, agonizing process and it took me years to be able to have a doctor examine me. The pain is an indelible memory of what happened is etched in my being forever. I can see every room in the House vividly and it has been 66 years since that fateful day. The years have not erased the memory but I went on to thank my parents for what they did I was a child having a child with a person I didn’t really love. Years later, after having my son I wondered what would have happened to me if I had given birth back then, a veritable child with two kids to raise and barely 20, Indeed they had done me a favor. I suffered for years with the notion that my parents put my life at risk and I could have died on his table, The truth is there was no alternative then and there seems to be few today. I had nightmares about lying on a slab in the coroner’s office as my parents wept by my side. This time I woke out of my tormented sleep to the sounds of the street. Cars racing past, motorcycles on one wheel, dogs barking, chatter. All around me, incessant meaningless chatter. I couldn’t shake it from my mind. Where was I and what was happening around me? I opened my eyes and saw the ceiling bearing down on me. My hands reached out but there was nothing but air around them. My breathing got heavier. The room was sparse but familiar. I kept hearing voices chattering from every side. Then a single voice, a low monotone saying, “You’re fine now. There is nothing to worry about. You will be bleeding for the next day or two, no longer than that and then you will be just fine and dandy.” Suddenly, I realized where I was, in Purgatory. I was in Hell! I was lying face up on the cold metal table he used to torture and maim. I had been on that cold wet table twice before. Just like a dead person, placed into a cabinet at the morgue. Confused and startled, I sat up, suddenly throwing the towel on the floor beside me. “What the hell are you doing to me?” I screamed. “Nothing, nothing at all.” he whispered. I wanted to scream at him and say, why did you have your tongue on my pussy two weeks ago? Was I alright then? What were you looking for? Why did you do that? Do my parents know what you did to me? You molested me, you perverted Butcher. I was dazed from the pills I took to relax me before going to him that third time, but then no one could blame me for being upset and anxious. I had nearly killed my father with the blue glass bath salts bottle that I heaved through the bathroom window that morning. I felt like I was going mad, losing my mind. Where was I and what the hell happened to me, Is this Kansas, or am I home yet? Where in the hell is Toto? I am going insane for sure. I am barely 17 years old, and I am going insane. Someone, please rescue me, please. Fast forward to 2024 and I wonder if I am going mad or losing my mind or both. Here we are 66 years later, and the government would take away women’s rights as they had done in the 50’s. Instead of protecting our right to freedom of choice they would have women go through what I went through and perhaps die in the process This is draconian and unacceptable. I do not believe in late term abortions, but I do believe in Roe v Wade and a safe method to freedom of choice. If the government bans abortions totally then women will be forced to resort to back alley butchers, coat hangers or dangerous even deadly cocktails to try and abort the fetus. This is totally unacceptable and cannot be allowed to happen.

I became pregnant at 25 with my then boyfriend. We had used a condom which split and I also took the morning after pill. I knew instantly that I didn't want to continue with the pregnancy (or the relationship). Because Ihad recently moved to London and was not registered with a GP here (and knew the GP I was registered with in Sussex had strong religious views) I used a private clinic and used all my savings to pay for the procedure. I was under 9 weeks so was able to take the tablets which was the cheaper option. On the day of there were protesters outside and I had to pass them twice as I took the first tablet returned home then came back for the second. It wasn't an easy experience, but is definitely the best decision I've ever made. It allowed me to become a parent when I was ready. It allowed me to leave a difficult relationship and not be tied to that person. Abortion is healthcare.

So I found out I was pregnant on the new years eve of 2014. What a way to bring in the new year! I hadn't had a period in 3 months which I put down to coming off contraceptives that I'd been on since 2010. I was told it was normal to experience a change in my cycle coming off them so I didn't for one minute think I was pregnant. I came off the depo injection because it was causing the most horrendous cramps which almost made me pass out so I made the decision to just completely come off contraception to give my body a break. On Christmas Day, I noticed my stomach looked a bit bloated which I thought was down to eating so much food over the Christmas break! I'd always been very skinny so I thought it was just a bit of Christmas weight gain ? it wasn't until my Mam said that it looked like a bump that I started to consider that it may be that I was pregnant. Cut to News Year Eve when my sister went out for some pregnancy tests for herself. She offered me one so I took it just so that I could at least have an answer as to why my periods hadn't returned and why I looked a bit chunky! Within seconds it came up with 2 lines. I went into a state of shock, not knowing what to do! Once I'd spoken to my boyfriend, we came to the decision that we couldn't keep the baby. We hadn't flown the nest by this point so we were living with our parents, I was in my last year at Uni and my partner was the only one working. It didn't feel right to bring a baby into the world when we weren't prepared for it. My mam said we'd be fine and that we'd manage but I didn't want to just manage. I knew that if I was to get pregnant, I'd want my life to be more stable and my life at the time was far from it. Once New Year was out of the way, we made an appointment with our GP who confirmed the pregnancy. He said I was quite far ahead and asked what our plans were. We told him we couldn't go through with it to which he replied "well you need to refer yourself to the hospital, I don't want anything to do with it after today". I was so shocked that he made us feel a bit ashamed for making the decision we did. But alas, we referred ourselves to a local hospital where we went for a scan. This took around a week to happen. Our scan confirmed we were around 10-12 weeks. We were then told to refer ourselves to another hospital to go ahead with the abortion procedure. Because of how far along I was, only a certain hospital in my area would entertain the idea which I completely understand. In that time, I tried my hardest not to Google what the baby would look like. We also had to deal with family members who weren't fully supportive of our decision. It made it incredibly hard having them sit and try to talk us out of it everyday, it was really hard. Especially having one of them ask if they could adopt it. We then got an appointment to discuss our options. The first option was to take a pill to basically bring on labour where I would pass the fetus vaginally. The second was to go under general anesthetic and have it surgically removed. Initially, I wanted to go with the first option, however, after really thinking about it, I went with the second one. After maybe a week or so of waiting, we were told to come into the hospital for our procedure. I was booked in for around 8 in the morning. I was put onto a ward with around 9 other women. First, I had to insert a pessary to widen my cervix. It caused a small amount of cramp but that was it. After a few hours, I had to insert another which increased the cramp a little but nothing more than what I'd experienced during my period. I was the last girl to be taken down as I was further ahead than the other women. I was given some stuff to help sleep and thats all I remember after that. I'd woken up a couple hours later in the recovery room surrounded by other patients (men and women). Once I came round a bit, I was wheeled by up to the ward to meet my boyfriend. I had to stay for a couple of hours just so they could check everything was fine and then I was allowed to go home. I was so relieved that it was all over! All in all, from finding out I was pregnant to having the abortion, I think I waited around 3/4 weeks. I think the only thing I didn't expect going into it was that I was never referred by the doctors, I always had to refer myself, which I understand as it was my decision to terminate the pregnancy, but I did think I'd have a little more help with it. It's been 9 years since that and looking back, I do sometimes feel sad that we never got to have that baby. And I do sometimes have regrets about it but then I remind myself that if I didn't go through with it, I wouldn't have had my daughter.

I accidentally fell pregnant when my mental health was poor. I had lost my grandad and a close friend in a short space of time and wasn’t in a great place so I forgot to take my contraception a few times. My partner was very abusive and much older than me with 2 teenage children. The night when I had, had the positive test, I heard him beating his teenage son through the wall and I knew I couldn’t keep this baby. A child would have tied me down to a man who I later found out had 6 previous convictions for domestic abuse and violence against women and children. I knew I had to leave as soon as possible, and if I had a baby that would be harder and link me with him forever. I terminated my pregnancy as soon as I physically could get to the clinic. He cared that much he wouldn’t even come with me and I was forced to beg his sister to drive me there as I had no transport. 5 years later I'm a proud convert to Islam and life could t be more different. I am expecting a child with my wonderful husband this autumn. All praise to Allah. My abortion saved my life and saved a child from a life of severe mental and physical abuse.

In early July 2020, during lockdown, I found out by chance that I was pregnant. My periods have always been irregular so I only began wondering when I started to feel unnaturally bloated and noxious in the morning. After taking several pregnancy tests that confirmed I was pregnant, I immediately called MSI. A very nice operator spoke to me on the phone, asked me how I was and talked me through a series of points. The first call was aimed at giving me more information about what the process might look like, and then I was scheduled to have another call with a nurse the following day. A few days later, I went to an in-person appointment. Although it was lockdown, and I was 25 at the time, everyone at the clinic was so understanding and supportive that I did not feel scared at all. According to the scan, I was 5-6 weeks pregnant. I was given part of the medication at the clinic and a second pill to take at home. Coming from Italy and experiencing this during lockdown made me extremely grateful that in the UK I had access to abortion providers like MSI for free. I was in London though and I'm aware that funding cuts mean that not everyone in the UK has access to the same number of abortion providers in close proximity. MSI and similar providers offer essential healthcare to women. Increased protests outside clinics and the dire situation in the US should act as wake-up calls: abortion should be completely decriminalised and destigmatised and treated for the essential healthcare that it is.

I fell pregnant shorlty after my 16th birthday due to a broken condom. I agonised hard whether to keep the baby. My Dad was old and I knew this was his only chance of ever meeting a grand-child. I was also very depressed and suidical after a breakup and hoped that having a baby would give my life purpose and another person who unconditionally loved me. All of these were not healthy reasons to have a baby, and I did have the abortion which was very traumatic and unpleasant, but it was the right decision. If I had not had the abortion I would not have completed education, marrried and later divorved the child's father, a person who mainly wanted a green card, and I would have been unable to care for my Dad when he fell terminally ill with cancer the coming year, just around the time the baby would have been born. I am glad that my life turned out the way it did. I never regretted the abortion. Years later, I met a boyfriend's young cousin for the first time, who was 8 at the time, the age my aborted child would have been. She came up to me, looked me deep in the eyes, called me Mom and hugged me for a long time. I cried and cried. I felt she was the daughter I would have had, saying to me that she was not holding a grudge against me for aborting her, but that her life too had turned out better. The girl even looked like me. It was a profoundly moving experience, which released me from the regret over the pregnancy I did not complete. I never had any children and am now going through menopause without regrets. I have nurtured many university students through their PhDs and have created many offspring through my art, music and writing. Not everyone is born to be a physiological mother, especially if you have never experienced constructive mothering from a biological parent as a child yourself.

Hi, I really needed to express myself without being judged. Around September I met a guy, he was 31 and I'm 34. We didn't see much, once when we were together I told him I couldn't get pregnant because of my PCOS (also, I'd had sexual intercourse without protection several times, in different stages of my cycle, and never had gotten pregnant). So we didn't use condoms, and (as usual) nothing happened. I noticed though, that sex was extremely painful with him, and I bled after. Found that weird but thought it was a matter of size. On October 15th we had sex again, it was unbearably painful but not only that, I thought all the semen had came out, only to find out an hour later that there was still plenty of it inside. It cought my attention for a moment but I just went over it. My last period had been in September 27th, so around November 3rd, after a friend insisted, I took a pharmacy test. The result was a very strong positive, I wasn't even seeing the guy anymore. I went crazy, zillions of doubts came along, my friend was so happy... but I didn't even know what to do. So I texted the guy, he didn't answer. The following morning I just texted him everything, the test, my fear, and that I needed his help. I was expecting him to support me with the idea of abortion, I was so sure he wouldn't want the baby. He finally answered and told me if we could meet. We did, as I had expected, he didn't want to have the baby. I told him I wanted to get out of town, cross the border, and buy the pills illegally just to avoid leaving the record of an abortion on my clinical history. He acceded, next day we were crossing the border and getting 12 misoprostol pills, the following Friday, we set everything up and started the procedure. Took 4 pills every 3 hours, I inserted them in my vagina, he stayed with me during the whole process. But for our surprise, nothing happened, not even a drop of blood came out of my body. So we crossed the border again and went to see a gynecologist, he told us he could only see a sac. We asked if we could perform the procedure in their local hospital and he said yes, but also said that the embryo should be seen, otherwise they wouldn't do it. So we went back 10 days later, as indicated, and he said it was still just a sac. He promised us that if we waited ten more days and the embryo was still not showing, he would give us the pills himself, as it could be diagnosed as "non evolutive" pregnancy. When we went back after 10 days the embryo was not only showing but we could also hear it's heart beating. It was pretty devastating for both of us, the previous day I had had an important bleeding and thought I had lost it naturally, the doctor had asked for many studies and analysis (which I did, as he said the hospital wouldn't practice the abortion without that information). That day I had a long talk with the "not father", the heart beat also made him do it about the decision... three days later he asks me to go to therapy together, he acted like he hadn't any doubts, like he was determined to end the pregnancy, I told him in front of the therapist that three days before he wasn't that sure... he confessed not, bit said it was a moment of weakness. Good, I asked him if he would let me keep the baby on my own, he said no "either I'm a father or I'm not, I'm not gonna be just a progenitor". Those were his words. So we ended up crossing the border again to do the procedure, but as we were not residents, the local hospital wouldn't take my case (right before he had told me "promise me that if for any reason this doesn't work, we're doing it in our city" I felt so pressured that had to agree. When we came back home I phoned my local health provider and asked for an appointment, they set it for the next day, I begged him not to do it but he pushed and pushed. So next day we were getting the pills, he wanted me to take the first one right away, I had to take it at a friend's house because I felt I couldn't on my own. The next day I had to take the misoprostol dosis. It was all fine at first. My friend was with me this time. Suddenly I started to feel awful crumps, and the intensity raised untill it was unbearable. Lucky for me "the not father" came to see me and took me to the emergency, he fighted everyone there to get anything that could control the pain, we spent almost an hour waiting, until they finally gave me something. Anyway, it took around 45 minutes more to take action. The guy spent the rest of the time with me, he brought me food, sweets, a clean towel so I could take a shower and a blanket. While he got all that stuff from a nearby store, I almost fall asleep. The pain was gone and I was feeling fine (meaning only physically, of course). I ate some of the stuff and told him I needed to go to the bathroom, almost immediately I felt a huge amount of blood coming out, he was heading to the kitchen by the time I entered to the bathroom (we were in my office). I got to see something hanging, I took some paper and pushed it out. When I looked (why did I have to look) I saw it, it was clearly a baby, around 2 or 3 cm, with a clear head, two tiny eyes, hands and legs, it looked like a miniature baby. I panicked and started calling this guy, who wasn't even my boyfriend or anything, and when he came in I showed him the result, he looked kind of shocked at first, gave me a hug and said "throw it", and so I did. It was terrible, I can't believe I did it. It's been two weeks now and I have an ultrasound tomorrow. I feel my belly bloated. I know it's impossible but I dream there were two and I have at least one remaining. There's zero chances I know, and I don't even have the right to be that pretentious but I wish so much I'm still pregnant. I'm so sorry. After a couple of days he took me to the shrink again, and then I never called, texted or saw the guy, and if I did, I would never tell him if I'm still pregnant. If that unbelievable miracle happened he will never let him ger to do the same thing again

2023 Hi im 21 and im pregnant and im hidden it from my family I got pregnant by a guy who I liked but also has a girlfriend and a kid im so ashamed to tell anyone and regret I have a strict religion family I can’t tell them but al I wanted to say to all woman that have being suffer during pregnant or abortion ur a queen don’t forget that . that my story thank you for reading it ❤️

I had an abortion because both my partner and I had children with previous partners and we couldn’t move to be with one another as it would sacrifice the stability we had for our children.

I had an abortion when I was 18. I couldn’t have a child at that time. I was scared, I was depressed, I was self harming and I was in a disastrous relationship. I’m now 41, with 2 children and have no doubt that was the correct decision. It was not the right time.

It was back in 1978 I was unmarried and 18 years old .my boyfriend and ,I decided to split up only for me to discover I was pregnant .I was so scared to tell my dad who was very strict and ,never liked my ex so,I told my best friend who was with me when I finally told my parents .my dad went ballistic and told me I would have to get rid of it or get out of the house .he marched me up the doctors and told him I wanted an obortion which was far from the truth but, I was too scared to say anything as he would have beat me so,I had no choice but to go along with it .I honestly thought he would change his mind when he calmed down .it was the morning I was booked in to have my baby removed ? I begged him on my hands and knees for me to be able to keep it but it was no use he was more worried about what the neighbours would think .I looked at my mum but ,she said nothing I felt so alone. I was taken to the hospital crying not knowing what I could do to change my dads mind but ,it went on deaf ears he abused me verbally all the way there .He took me in with my case and left me there told me under no circumstances was I to come back until it was gone. I had the procedure done and ,my whole world changed I was treated badly by the nurses they were so horrible to me and , I did not blame them to be honest .I let my dad murder my child and I've had to live with the guilt all my life .my mother when I came home asked me was it a boy or girl well I was shocked she would ask me that but, I was told by a nurse it was a boy I was 13 weeks pregnant .I told her and broke down crying devastated she just carried on making dinner like it was nothing .my brother and his wife had just had a baby boy they called not knowing what had happened to me .I had stayed in my bedroom I did not want to see the baby .my dad came storming up the stairs told me to get my arse downstairs and stop feeling sorry for myself and greet the baby boy if I had not have moved he would have hit me so I did only for my sister in law to give the baby to me .it was a happy time for them but for me it destroyed my life .my personality changed I was depressed and suffering with no help at all .I had to live with it my best friend was the only one I could talk to but she couldn't possible know what I was going through but ,without her I would not be here today .ive tried to end my life many times over it and have never forgiving him or my mum .im now 63 and still to this day its like yesterday when I begged him to let me keep it .I hate myself for been so weak and not standing up to him .I should have left home why didn't I. I will never ever get over it .I have 2 grown up children one is a drug addict the other an alcoholic don't get this wrong I loved them and they had a great up bringing .I feel im been punished by my first child for killing him .im not against obortion if that is what is right for the mother but it was against my wishes .ivd never ever talked about this until now and im still struggling.

I was in a committed relationship, or so i thought, we already had one child, but we were not married. When my first was 10 months old I became pregnant again and I was delighted and surprised, I was using a dutch cap. I always wanted more than one child having come from a big family myself. However, soon after hearing the news my partner became aggressive and abusive and swore that if I had that child he would leave me. I was devastated, but i thought that I would not be able to cope as a single parent, unemployed with 2 children, and no family help nearby. So I agreed to an abortion, I went to my normal GP who was not supportive but could see my problem, I had the procedure at the local hospital. I was so shocked, sorry, pleading with the surgeon to be careful as I did want another baby when I was more settled. No one warned me about the emotional loss, bereavement, bewilderment of losing a baby , even within the 3 month limit. Needless to say the relationship I was in failed soon after. I was a single parent but I managed, and so did my child.

My partner was very much struggling with alcohol and substance use. We also just weren't right for each other, which I knew deep down and in a weird way, his vulnerabilities kept us together longer. It would've been a shit show to bring a child into that. I would've struggled, he would've struggled. It wasn't fair on anyone involved. I've done so much good in the world that I wouldn't have been able to had I gone ahead with the pregnancy. It was hard, sad, and I had/have deep feelings about it all, but I am unwavering in that I know it was the right choice.

I had an abortion when I was 43 and i had an irregular menstrual cycle which meant that I was fertile when I expected not to be. I was so grateful to be able to have an abortion because I did not have the mental or physical capacity to have a child neither the desire

My experience was in Australia but it might be of interest for you because they have such a strong link with the uk and might show similar issues. I had an abortion in Australia while travelling because I just did not want a kid at 25 years old. In New South Wales it was not allowed for me to have an abortion (I was 7 and a half weeks), so me and my partner drove to Canberra to do it, and we had to pay 1200$. They gave me a home pill and even though they advised me and talked me through the process roughly, I would not have imagined such a difficult thing to go through at home (although worth it at the end of course), without support from the medical centre to check on me afterwards, just once at least.

I fell pregnant by mistake. I thought I was tracking my cycles accurately, but apparently not! As soon as I found out my husband and I unanimously decided we didn’t want anymore kids. We joked it was the easiest joint decision we had ever made. The reality was that it was tough, we love our kids very much but simply couldn’t handle more. I was diagnosed twice with ppa/ppd and my husband also massively struggled and probaly suffers with some sort of parental related depression. To be honest I struggled to access the care, it was still very much phone based. But in the end the pregnancy ended between 9 and 10 weeks. The longer it went on, then more i imagined another sibling. I didn’t want one though. It was tricky but i have mo doubt it was he right decision for me and my family.

I was in a relationship with a very toxic person and we had broken up before I found out I was pregnant at 19. I was living with my parents and only had a part time job, I felt like I was still just a kid myself and really didn’t want to have a baby, even more so didn’t want anything to do with the potential father. 10 years later and I’m so glad I made the right choice for me and I still don’t want children. But whilst I’m very vocal about being pro choice, there are only a handful of people that know that I’ve had an abortion myself, I feel people are very quick to blame women and there is definitely still a stigma around abortion.

I was 17 (am 48 now). I told my mum very soon after I found out and she supported me completely. I always felt very lucky to have that. I was 10/11 weeks when the abortion was done and it was done under general anesthetic, that was another thing I’ve always been very grateful for. I struggled with my emotions around it for a very long time, probably up until I had my first son. Although my mum supported me there wasn’t much talking about it afterwards, until I had therapy at 24 years old. I’ve always known that my decision was the right one for me at that time.

I was 30 when I discovered I was pregnant, I wasn’t in a position to have a child and at the time I was travelling abroad in a country where access to abortion is illegal. I contacted BPAS as soon as I found out and made an appointment for when I returned to the UK. I have never regretted my decision to have an abortion. If anything, the experience made me thankful that I live somewhere where access to safe abortion is available to women.

When I saw those two lines on a pregnancy test after BC failed me for the first time in over a decade, I knew my only option would be abortion. There was no doubt in my mind. After 1 miscarriage and 2 healthy children, I knew I was done. I couldn’t carry another for my mental health. I would have lost the battle with anxiety and depression. 2 years later and I haven’t felt an ounce of regret, longing or ‘what could have been’. It was the most confident decision I have made in my life. The world wants to spin this narrative that everyone who considers abortion has a broken heart and spends weeks thinking over the option. For some, that’s not the case. My abortion was the best choice for my relationship, my living children, and most importantly, my own life. I am so thankful for BPAS and a world of women who aimed to support me through that experience.

I had an abortion in my freshers week of uni. It was with my long term boyfriend (4 years at the time and we are still together now 5 years later). I couldn’t have financially or emotionally dealt with having a baby at the time. There’s not a single part of me that regrets it. I’m in a loving relationship and I hope to have children one day, but I know that wasn’t the right time. I made the best decision for my life and I wouldn’t change a thing.

I had an abortion when I was 17. I didn’t tell anyone except school friend because I thought if my parents found out they would not trust me any more to go out and live my life. If I had not had access to an abortion I would have been terrified as I absolutely did not want to have a baby. I was still growing up myself. I was not ready to be a parent. I am now 51 and I have two lovely children. I am with a long-term partner and we wanted and were ready to have a family. In the meantime I have been to university and had a good working life in the voluntary sector. I don’t think I would have been able to have this life if I had not had the right to an abortion when I needed it.

I had a termination after I got pregnant at a very bad time in my life. My mental health was very poor, I was self harming and suicidal and I was in total self destruct mode. Getting pregnant was part of that. I knew I was too unwell to continue a pregnancy. I was convinced I would kill myself and any baby I had. Luckily I had support from a friend to see a doctor to get the help I needed. I then took part in trials for the drug that is now called Mifepristone. At that time groups of women were at hospital at the same time to be given the medication and to be monitored by health care professionals. This gave me and other women a chance to talk about our situation. It also allowed me the opportunity to ask the male consultant why he did this work. I have never had any children, through choice and know I made the right choice for me that day.

In 2006 I got pregnant from a one night stand. I didn’t have his phone number and I didn’t know his name. I had been made homeless by my parents several times from the strict religious house I was rebelling against. My father had not spoken to me in years but we lived in the same house. Obviously, a 17 year old girl who was in her first year of college with a fraught family dynamic in a council estate could not have had a child. I put off the phone call to the GP even though I knew immediately that I was pregnant because I was so frightened and overwhelmed. I went to the appointment and thankfully secured a referral to an abortion clinic. The entire process was humiliating. They also gave me a birth control injection which I had not consented to. I’m glad I was able to access the healthcare for free when I so desperately needed it and I will always, always support these rights for everyone. The right to access to healthcare, bodily autonomy, medical consent are all basic human rights of which so many of us, especially women and trans people, in this era. How awful. I have no regrets, I am filled with gratitude and have remained happily child free and intend to remain so.

I had an abortion at 5 weeks (I discovered I was pregnant at 4 weeks and was told I had to wait until five to have a medical abortion.) i know a lot of people who have had them and every one said that at that stage it is no worse than a severe period. Unfortunately that was not the case for me as one of the two sets of pills I had to take didn’t work, meaning so my body was trying to expel the cells through a cervix that was not prepared. I was in so much pain I passed out, vomited continuously and was admitted by ambulance to hospital for two days. Amongst several humiliating moments whilst there, I saw a Dr who told me the pain was normal & I was I quote, foolish to have expected anything less than contraction level pains as my body was ‘expelling a baby’. (Male Dr of course.)

I am now in my late 70s and had an abortion when I was 3O. The BPAS must have been very new then. Many of my friends had accessed ‘illegal’ abortions during the previous decade and one had died as a result. The stigma was frightening. Even though I had to go through the humiliating process of having to have 2 doctors agreeing to my mental condition, I was treated with dignity and compassion. I can’t believe that we are still in position of forcing women to go through similar humiliation and stress almost 50 years later

I had an abortion at 19. I was lucky enough that my Mum came with me. I went to work the following day. I have zero regrets about my decision.

I found out that I was pregnant when I was 17, through not using contraception, during my A levels in 1977. I had no steady boyfriend and was about to finish school. I had no problem terminating the pregnancy at about 14 weeks. 2. My husband and I discovered I was pregnant, though I had an IUD, just before we were setting off on a year’s travelling in 1990. I had no problem terminating the pregnancy.

I had an abortion in the form of the pill when I was six weeks pregnant, I thought I would have a heavy period but I bled heavily for three days and was homeless living in a communal dormitory with loud noisy people while I cried out in pain. I already four children who had been removed due to DV from the father and my unsupported mental health. Then a year later I had a very late term abortion at 28 weeks for which I am so grateful for , I was still homeless and unwell and still in a very violent situation. Despite my own case I am also passionate about all women at anytime having access to free safe abortions including late term. I would also call for much needed aftercare for women while recovering

I had an abortion when I was eighteen, in my first year at Cambridge University. I never told my parents, and close friends and my boyfriend helped me arrange the abortion and get to the clinic and back. Although I was in a relationship, I was not ready to settle down and start a family and was worried that having a baby would mean I'd have to leave university.

I was 17 just passed my driving test, the two people I would talk to, one had just had a miscarriage and the other had just gone through ivf. I needed to talk I tried help lines but they only had recorded messages. I went yo the gp who very embarrassed just asked the necessary questions then sent me on my way. I drove myself to the hospital thinking I would just drive myself home. They put me on the ward with all the new babies, eventually into a side room, the nurse they gave me was I would say about 7/8 months pregnant, I was made to feel absolutely shit. It xame to the moment I had to sign the paperwork qnd put down my next of kin and the guilt hit me that if something happened I would really hurt my sister who I had put on the paperwork, so I called her. She then phoned my cousin who came straight up the hospital. She had to go to work so sent her partner to pick me up, the looks this poor man that had nothing to do with my situation received was horrible I felt so shit. I went back to their’s coming back the next day to collect my car and because it had already been arranged I had to go shopping for baby bits for my cousin baby. The whole situation made me feel less than a person, I was treated in such a horrible way. I only hope this doesn’t happen now but in my heart I know it probably does and it makes me sad. I will say I should have talked to my mum but I wanted it to be my decision I didn’t want to be influenced by anyone. My mum had a child at a young age and so did my sister, I wanted to break the cycle.

I have never wanted children, and always known this. I became pregnant with my long-term boyfriend when contraception failed. It never entered my mind to keep the fetus. I had a positive pregnancy test at a GP's and immediately took the steps with them to book an abortion. The abortion was a week or so later at a hospital, and there were no issues at all. It was all very simple. Nearly twenty years on I have never regretted this, I am happy being childfree and have no desire to be a mother. My story is not one of tragedy, or abuse or anything like you see on the news, simply a person who does not want to have children making the decision not to.

I was 28 years old. I have a child from a previous relationship who I had when I was 17 and raised alone, I have long term mental health issues and made the decision to have an abortion as I didn’t want to put me and my child in a position we would no longer be able to manage or enjoy. I made the decision for both of us as we would of been financially unstable and would need to move home too.

Dear Level Up, I am a young woman, and an intersectional Feminist believing wholeheartedly that abortion is a form of basic healthcare, I have many stories to share personally, as a Friend, and then professionally as a Midwife supporting many women and girls through terminations. Personally, I have only ever taken the morning after pill, but would have accessed abortion support if I needed too. Both times having taken the morning after pill, I done this post-sexual assault. Namely, a rape as a 15 year old girl, and then a rape as an adult woman. I cannot have imagined the hurt that going through with any of these potential pregnancies would've caused on me, looking at a potentially grown child, knowing they were conceived through rape. What an awful start to a parenting journey, and what an awful start to another child's life, growing to learn they were conceived by a rapist. As a Friend, my Friends have had similar experiences. I have supported 3 x Friends who had terminations post-rape, and 1 x Friend who had a termination through her contraceptive failing, but she has epilepsy and epilepsy medication is a known cause of major birth defects, at times creating babies that are not compatible with human life, with partially formed brains, limbs, faces, hearts, you name it. Again, I couldn't have imagined supporting her as she went through a pregnancy, having no idea truly what her baby would look like, and if it would even be able to breathe and exist on it's own post birth. As a professional, I have never supported an individual through an abortion for an unjust reason. What I hate about the state is that they love to impose harsh restrictions and regulations on women, and think about immediate action points, but then leave no room for after-thoughts, and consequential situations to be considered. If the UK Government wants to seemingly swing towards a pro-life stance, what are their plans for after these lets face it 'unwanted' babies are born, where do they go then? Where are the foster homes, children's homes, comprehensive CAMHS services to support these children with the emotional after-effects of being removed at birth, having a closed adoption for example? These support provisions are underfunded, with no prospect of any new funding, and like I said, we just think about the birth and then not about how we're actually going to support this brand new life rooting itself within the UK in a healthy, grounded way, it is negligent. Something needs to give, if not, I would like to see more men's bodily autonomy topics brought up in legal and political settings please, with women seated to discuss men's rights to surgeries upon their penis, their sexual rights, their contraceptive rights, it's only equal right?

I had an abortion in 2018. I wanted to keep the baby but it just wasn’t practical for my personal circumstances then and i know i made the right decision, even though it was informed by pressure. Now i have my child who was born around the same time i wouldve been due if i kept the 2018 pregnancy – like the baby came back when I was fully ready.

I was living abroad and had been raped. I was 20, I didn’t have money, stability, or the ability to take care of a kid – even a kid that I’d wanted, let alone one I didn’t. I didn’t have to think twice when I saw the results of the pregnancy test – I knew an abortion would be the best thing for me. I had already booked flights back to the UK & was able to get it done here medically. Walking out the clinic after I’d taken the second pills was the biggest relief of my life – it gave me control back at a time I had little. I could finish my degree. I could choose my own path in life. I could do what I knew was best for me. But I also felt so angry at the presence and interference of protestors while I was at the clinic – not only were they harassing women who went in, but they also maliciously directed mothers with young babies (who were looking for a nearby clinic) into the surgery to shame/embarrass people inside. It stoked a fire in me that the right to abortion on request needs to be established.

I had an abortion last year, after an unexpected pregnancy with someone who I wasn’t in a relationship with. I didn’t feel able to tell him, or my family, only two close friends. BPAS were incredible and I’m so thankful for them. However, as they didn’t have the pills by post contract for my local area (the local NHS board did) I ended up having to pay for my BPAS consultation. The NHS system wouldn’t have been able to keep it off my record, and I wasn’t comfortable handling it locally and I wanted it to be done as soon as possible, the NHS meant I had to wait a week for an appointment online. I realise I was in a very unique and privileged position to be able to afford the consultation fee and not all women would be able to. It saved me so much more emotional trauma by being able to handle it without going to a GP or clinic, and without having to tell anyone I wasn’t comfortable with.

He said “he’s going to cum in me and there’s nothing I can do about it”. It was during lockdown and nothing was available. I had to rely on anonymous strangers on Reddit to explain to me what would/could happen and share their real life stories. I had one in person scan and the remaining appointments were over the telephone to quite a rude lady. Abusive boyfriend refused to come with me to my appointment or be there whilst I was taking the tablets for the abortion, and instead updated me on his fifa score throughout the day through text. The next day I had a rock hard feeling in my stomach that wasn’t explained to me, so I had to go to an out of hours doctor who suspected an infection, but in reality it was just from cramping for 6 hours non-stop. If it wasn’t for a group on Reddit I would’ve gone into the experience blind. I told no-one apart from my mum & partner what was happening, there’s this massive stigma and shame surrounding it. Now, when I tell people I had an abortion I feel like I have to steel myself. I didn’t kill a child, I stopped 4 week old cells. It was an awful experience as I wasn’t informed, I thought I would take the tablets & I’d be fine the next day. Abortion is healthcare.

I had an abortion when I was 16. We had used a condom but it split, so I went to my GP for the morning after pill but it made me really sick and I threw up in the school toilets. I have never been so scared in all my life as when I realised I was pregnant. My mum had me when she was 19 and had no family support, she was very depressed when I was a young child which caused me to be very anxious. I knew that I wasn’t ready to be a mother at 16. I don’t regret my abortion at all, I’m now a mother of 2 teenagers who I adore and they wouldn’t exist if I had carried that pregnancy to term. I don’t think I would have coped with a baby at 16, the effect on my mental health would have been devastating and I wouldn’t have been able to provide well for my child.

My best friend had an abortion when we were both teenagers (back in the 80s). I went with her, sat in the waiting room, and got a taxi home with her afterwards. Then I hung out in her bedroom with her while she slept. Later that evening she bumped into her mum in the kitchen and confessed what had happened (she hadn’t planned to tell her at all). Her mum came to me and gave me a massive hug and thanked me for being such a good friend and looking after her daughter.