My husband and I spent four years trying to conceive with fertility treatment. After multiple losses (including an ectopic pregnancy), I had a difficult twin pregnancy that resulted in a month of hospital bed rest and an emergency c-section at 25 weeks gestation. My twins spent six months in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) before coming home.

When they were nine months old they couldn’t yet sit up unassisted and were receiving weekly physical therapy in our home. At this same point in time, I realized I was unintentionally pregnant. My OB/GYN brought me in for an ultrasound to make sure the embryo was growing and in my uterus unlike my first pregnancy. It was. Then she asked what I wanted to do. I said I wanted to terminate.

I couldn’t risk another pre-term birth with two babies at home that needed so much from me. I couldn’t risk bed rest. I couldn’t risk being torn between a baby in the NICU and two at home. So, my doctor referred me to Planned Parenthood. I was six weeks pregnant, but they were unable get me in for three weeks.

Everyone at Planned Parenthood was wonderful. They listened to my story, said they understood, and I felt supported. I was told I could be scheduled for an abortion at the end of the week, but I would need to stay at my consultation appointment longer in order to meet with the doctor who would be performing it. As a result, in a state with a mandatory 24-hour waiting period, my reality was a 72-hour wait.