You're the Only One I've Told: The Stories Behind Abortion

by Meera Shah

But we can say that someone is brave to choose themselves when often societal and familial actors actively try to take away their reproductive autonomy. When someone chooses the health care they need despite the backlash they may face, yes, that’s brave. People should be treated with the same dignity and respect regardless of what decisions they make for themselves about pregnancy and parenting.

There is no such thing as a good abortion or bad abortion or someone who is worthy of an abortion or someone who is not. These stories show that people who have abortions are human beings with varied life experiences, just like everyone else. The decision to have an abortion doesn’t always stem from trauma or turmoil either; sometimes it’s easy and simple. One is not unique because they had an abortion. An abortion does not define someone; it is one event in a person’s life.

He taught me that religion is at the core of so many people’s sense of self and that one way to understand others is to try to understand their faith.

Medicine can tell us when pregnancy begins and when a fetus is likely to be viable outside of the womb, but the concept of life is more abstract and varies depending on an individual’s belief.

Denying someone an abortion to make a statement about morality is ignoring the root cause of the issue.

Believe it or not, everyone knows and loves someone who has had an abortion.

They found that “in 10 out of the 13 book club discussions, at least one member disclosed having had a previous abortion. Overall, 15 of the 19 women who privately reported having a previous abortion self-disclosed one or more abortions during the book club discussion.”

The obsession with banning abortion and restricting access to it has become a political tool that disregards people’s health, as well as the realities of science.

The term “reproductive justice” was coined in 1994 by twelve Black women and defined as the human right to have children, to not have children, and to parent the children they have in a safe and sustainable environment. In 2007, this theory was expanded by these same women to include the right to sexual pleasure.

Amelia Earhart—“Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace”—