Today, Mother’s Day 2022, I realized for the first time that I, too, had an abortion. My husband and I were ready to start our family and I got pregnant very quickly in 1985. We were overjoyed and planning for the future. I was showing a bump when I went in to hear the heartbeat. The next parts are just a haze of being told that there was no heartbeat, there would be no baby, tears, loss, pain. I do not recall being told anything except that I needed to come in the next day for a procedure to clean out my uterus. I always thought that I had a miscarriage of my first child and never understood that the medical procedure recommended by my doctor would have been illegal for my mother’s generation and may be again for my daughter’s. The procedure protected my life and my uterus so I could go on to have a beautiful daughter in 1987 and a wonderful son in 1989 and now two awesome grandchildren. I have always been pro choice and adamant about body autonomy all the time not realizing that I had an abortion. My daughter went on to work for pro-choice organizations and volunteer to escort clinic patients. While I took my rights for granted, she has always recognized the risk of losing the privilege of making your own choices about your own body.
