When I was 23, I got pregnant. Keeping the baby at that time in my life was not the right choice for me. I did not have a partner who I thought would be someone I wanted to have in my life indefinitely, I didn’t have reasonable income, and I wanted to pursue a career path that would have been impossible with a child.

I opted to terminate the pregnancy. I was not ashamed. I did not feel that the life inside of me was viable given the circumstances into which it would have been born. I easily found a safe, local, professional clinic to have the procedure in. Had that not been available to me, I have no doubt I would have found another way to terminate the pregnancy.

I am now married with two children, own a small business, and am an advocate in my community. Women deserve the right to choose when and under what circumstances they bring life into their communities. Fewer abortions are better. Thoroughly educated women who are also able to readily and cheaply access adequate contraception should make responsible choices regarding pregnancy. But it is the community’s responsibility to make sure every woman has unlimited access to health care, to information about pregnancy, and to her contraception of choice. It is the community’s responsibility to educate every woman, and support her in her choices about when and if she will become a mother.