Four Years Since the Fall of Roe
We are the majority. These are our stories.
382 Voices and Counting
You—or someone you love—has benefited from contraception, sex education, maternal care, assisted reproduction, miscarriage care or abortion. This isn't a privilege we ask permission for.
Our lives depend on this right. It's a right millions of us exercise every day—legal or not, restricted or not, named or not.
We are the majority. We're going on the record.
What have reproductive choices given you the freedom to do?
I was able to help out my best friend in high school in 1971 when she got pregnant in 11th grade. Abortions were not legal in PA. but we were able to drive to Pelham, NY to a clinic there. This would have totally derailed her life and it opened my eyes to what choices were available to women in a lot of different areas of our lives. It was the catalyst for my participation in many of the DC marches and fighting for our rights. I loved picking up my MS. magazine and feeling part of a larger movement. I made me hopeful and I was right to feel that during those times. I’m refuse to lose that hope today!!!!!
When I became pregnant in 1960, there were no options. When I asked the OB/GYN who diagnosed me whether I really had to go through with it, he said he would have to call the police if I was considering any other choice. I believe that he deliberately withheld anesthetic during the birth, and cut a large, painful episiotomy, to teach me a lesson. I married my boyfriend of two years, and finished college. While he got a Phd and a law degree I stayed “barefoot and pregnant.” I gave up my own graduate work, and was a stay-at-home mom. The marriage did not work out. Divorce was a nightmare of heartbreak, fear, abuse, and custody issues. Now, nearing 90, my joys are my children and grandchildren, so I cannot claim regrets for their existence. But the timing was wrong, and I wish I had been able to finish my own Phd and enjoy a career. I am despairing and appalled by the current Supreme Court.
At 17, in 1974, I was able to access birth control pills. This singular option made it possible for me to choose whether or not I wanted to be a mother. That choice allowed me to, independently, continue my education, travel, establish and maintain personal credit, become an entrepreneur. I also became active in the fight for Equal Rights, as my parents were. My mother and father were both founding members of the local chapter of NOW in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Women’s strength was instilled in us from my maternal grandmother thru to our children. My grandmother was a strong woman who, beginning in the 1920’s was an entrepreneur, owning first a gas station in California, when my grandfather became ill, then a general store in an Ontario, Canada mining camp when he returned to mining. The fight continues rather than having been won.
Access to reproductive choices gave me the freedom to survive. In my mid-20s, I had two devastating pregnancy losses back to back. After the first miscarriage, an older male OB/GYN performed a D&C and told me to “get back in the saddle” and try again. No compassion. No meaningful guidance. Just an old-school, patriarchal attitude toward a young woman’s body and grief. I followed his advice and became pregnant almost immediately. That pregnancy was ectopic. In the emergency room, that same physician argued with a younger doctor outside my door. He wanted to remove my ovary, while the younger doctor advocated for a newer, less invasive laparoscopic procedure. Thankfully, the younger doctor prevailed. But my ordeal wasn’t over. The microscopic embryo bled out and reattached itself somewhere in my body, and my HCG levels kept rising. I endured a month of methotrexate injections — a form of low-dose chemotherapy — along with leucovorin injections, to stop the growth of pregnancy tissue
I became pregnant for the first time in the post-Dobbs world. It was a much longed-for pregnancy, but I endured a devastating, three-week miscarriage instead. As I was bleeding, in addition to my devastation, I had to wonder if I would be able to access help if things took a turn for the worse, or if I would just have to get into the bathtub and cross my fingers. When my pastor was consoling me after the fact, she confessed, “The first thing I thought when you told me was, ‘thank God we’re not in Texas!'” Last year, my husband I conceived again and were blessed with a healthy baby boy, but I had to miss two family funerals because they took place in parts of the country where I knew if something went wrong again, that I would be on my own.
Because of an IUD, I was able to avoid another unwanted pregnancy. This allowed me to avoid having children and passing on a life threatening genetic disease.
Access to reproductive choices gave me the freedom to finish high school. I had an abortion at 15 and without that access I do not know if I would have completed high school. After my abortion I had to take myself to planned parenthood to get on birth control. This allowed me to go through college, live my life-child free until I was ready to start a family. No one should be making these personal, life saving decisions but me and I’m thankful and grateful to live in New York where this access is available. With that said none of us are free until all of us are free.
When I was around 16-17 years old, I kinda felt that I wanted to have birth control that I definitely always wanted to have control over my own body, so I’ve asked my mother if she would put me on birth control, which she agreed to do so that both me and my sister (who is actually my older sister just by a few years) that we both would be the implants (Nexplanon). And obviously meanwhile my mother is more liberal/progressive/supportive; my grandmother was not that obviously she was a devout Mormon, conservative and a clear Republican that she was actually against it. Just like she was against us getting the vaccine for COVID and she would very often get onto us about our weights and stuff. So I definitely would have to admit that I was kinda terrified of what she would think when I’ve actually had gotten the implant, well obviously luckily she was actually supportive. But in the end I will not let religious institutions dictate of how I should live and do according to their standards.
I had 2 abortions before I had my children (I gave birth to 2 and adopted one). I was young, single and knew I was not ready to be a single parent and support a child at the time of my abortions. I have suffered no physical or emotional or psychological bad effects from my abortions. I worked 40 years as an RN, including as a Women’s Health Clinician. I certainly know first hand and from my professional life how important access to abortion is for women. And how important access to legal, safe and humane abortion services is for women. I worked as a nurse in the early 1970s before abortion was legal and took care of many women whose health was ruined by dangerous attempts to end a pregnancy. My grandmother told me about kitchen table abortions done by unlicensed women for each other in the early 20th Century -we do not want to go back to that.
I was always grateful to planned parenthood and the doctors who gave me care and birth control when I couldn’t afford it! My generation gained us choice for women! We are sickened that Republicans, evangelicals and others are banning care and choice for women again! This is against the wishes and needs of a majority of Americans who want sanity, science, choice, care and compassion from our government ! NEVER fascism, greed, corruption and hatreds! Because I was able to decide not to have children for possible medical, economic, and moral reasons : I was able to build a life as a therapist who helped other people’s children .
Sex education was taught in the Catholic school I attended. I was in the 7th Grade when I learned about “the birds and the bees”. Because of this, I knew I didn’t want to be a teen-aged mom; I knew I wanted to work and live in my own apartment and have the chance to enjoy my singlehood before getting married and starting a family; and I also knew I was going to have a child on my own terms. I was 32 when I had my son, and I’m so glad sex education was made available to my class.
In 1973, I was 18 years old, a young working-class woman going to a hospital nursing school near my home town in New Jersey because my family could not afford college and nursing students earned their “free” tuition by working 5 hours a day in the hospital and going to classes all afternoon. I was in my first relationship and still a virgin out of fear of pregnancy. My mother was trapped in an abusive marriage with my father as she married at 19 and had 5 children by age 25. Another student got pregnant and was able to have an abortion at Planned Parenthood in Hackensack, NJ. No doctor in our small town would give birth control to unmarried women, and no doctors would provide abortions. I went to Planned Parenthood and for a gynecological exam and birth control pills, and this changed my life! Access to birth control allowed me to complete nursing school, become financially secure, and have a great career, and to enjoy sexual freedom for over 50 years!
Abortion became legal the year I graduated from high school. I was so lucky to be able to go to Planned Parenthood and obtain affordable birth control easily and without any hassle. Fortunately, I did not need to access abortion care, but I had friends who did. My oldest daughter lives in a state where abortion is illegal and exceptions are very rare. She and her partner had several backup plans for leaving the state during her pregnancy in case she needed an emergency abortion. Everyone should have bodily autonomy and access to safe and affordable reproductive care. Reproductive choices should be a fundamental right in this country.
From early on, I’d never wanted to be a mother. Life was a struggle, financially, after leaving home, under constant threat of eviction, etc. I was in no way able to raise a child. My head was a mess, trying to stay afloat. After my 2nd ( early stage) abortion, I had my tubes tied ( Reagan was running on the anti-abortion platform). When I was 32, for medical reasons, I was able to opt for a hysterectomy, due to already having had a tubal. I was free at last. I had built for myself a good business, which I loved, and kept at for 56 years. A woman has no “equal rights” as promised in the Constitution if her life’s function is relegated to being a uterus. I do feel this is the logical approach that should’ve been used by those fighting the new laws. The entire idea that it’s a baby from conception is diabolical and simply religious extremism gaining the reins. Separation of Church and State is a protected right as well.
I had trouble getting pregnant and had surgeries and pills . I finally had my son. But I got pregnant again and it was an ectopic pregnancy and I was devastated. When I read that a politician from Ohio said that they should just put the fetus back in the uterus and jail the mother if she has it removed I was speechless! Men should not have this kind of power. We don’t live in North Korea!
After four children I became pregnant with an already failed relationship; I had the option of terminating it quickly and had my tubes tied. I was then pursuing a bachelors degree and had I not had that choice my situation would have much more difficult to continue with the pursuit of later achieving a MA degree. Even though it was already difficult with four children, I gained the courage to continue with best decision for myself and continue with my self liberation.
I was able to achieve my goals and dreams and wait for children after finishing my Master’s Degree. I have provided a safe living home for my family as an independent woman. I decided how many children I wanted for my family and what I felt I could care for and provide and nurture. I made these choices and have lived a full happy exciting and successful life. I have also been there for female friends and family to support their reproductive choices. I relied on planned parenthood for most of my young adult life, I felt safe and protected in an accessible reliable medical facility with knowledgeable and caring people for my reproductive needs.
I had 2 wonderful children with IVF.
Abortion should be safe & legal.
I had to use Planned Parenthood after the birth of my first daughter. When I was barely eighteen years old. It was the Reagan era and my husband and I had very little money so Planned Parenthood was the only way I could get reproductive health. They found a precancerous spot in my cervix, and I had to go find an OBGYN that was able to freeze my cervix, and get rid of the precancerous spots. Fast forward five years, I had gotten a divorce and was with my youngest daughter’s father. I was having a period and having severe pains. The pain was so bad. I got an emergency visit to my doctor and he sent me directly up to the emergency room. Do not pass go, he said, get there now, I believe you have an Ectopic pregnancy, in layman’s term a tubal pregnancy. Had it ruptured, I could have bled to death or never had children again. The only way to save my life was to have an abortion. These are two of the instances where Planned Parenthood and having an abortion at another time, saved my life literally!
Be a young mom compared to my friends, and then to pursue the career of my dreams…to become a clinician, educator, curriculum developer, author, chief of service, and volunteer for a number of organizations without the fear of having more than the delightful, delicious and endlessly satisfying children I do have. Thank you supporting my right to choose.
As a young lesbian in Texas, I didn’t think much about my reproductive rights. It was when I moved to Jefferson City, Missouri and began to attend public hearings at the Capitol that it became clear to me that to the legislators in the majority party, denying women reproductive rights is about control.
I was able to preserve my fertility after a radical hysterectomy and before beginning chemotherapy and radiation. It also afforded me time to heal and to find a surrogate who would successfully carry our now 14 year-old son. Cancer altered a lot about myself but science, good doctors and an incredible place to live gave us our family.
The choice to plan my family when I was ready.
It saved my daughter and granddaughter from being in very detrimental situations.
It was 1985 & I was 17. I had just graduated high school & was heading off for a summer travel adventure. I had decided that I had to have sex that summer before I went off to college that fall. In my head at that time, no one went to college a virgin and I had to make sure I wasn’t the only one. While away from home in my travels, I found a random guy & had sex with him. Several weeks later when I had returned home, I missed my period. Luckily, I had a close enough relationship with my mother that I went to her. Test was positive. I was pregnant…and about to leave for college. I like to say that the decision to have the abortion was one of the only smart choices I made at that age. My mother arranged it all & I had my abortion. I can’t imagine what my life would have been like had I not. I have had multiple in fields like education, technology, and finally nursing. Without access to reproductive healthcare, the life I have now would never have happened
As someone who has worked in healthcare my entire life, I understand the importance of a healthcare provider and a family’s right to choose what’s best for them. The treatment for a spontaneous abortion/ miscarriage is an abortion. Late term abortions have never been legal in my state (TX). What was legal, was determining in high risk situations whose life to save. Husbands and wives in most cases come to the decision to induce early labor because if the pregnancy continues both mother and baby will perish. Obviously, any dead organism in a human body will begin to poison the mother and put her life in jeopardy. I have several family members who would have lost their lives if doctors were not able to perform a medically necessary procedure to end their pregnancy due to preeclampsia and other conditions. I myself had miscarriages prior to being able to carry a child to term. In today’s climate, I would have given up trying to get pregnant for fear of having a late miscarriage.
When I was 21 I had one very young child and didn’t want another. The only choice was very strong birth control pills which make me sick. So I didn’t take them and got pregnant again. I really didn’t want a second child. I didn’t have a good marriage. Thankfully, I miscarried. It was at this time that I discovered Planned Parenthood. This was before the Internet or cell phones. I just looked in the Yellow Pages and asked around until I found this organization. I read about IUDs and finally called the local Planned Parenthood for an appointment. I went by myself on public transit and had the IUD inserted without telling my husband. I had a reaction to the treatment and had to travel home by myself. Taking control of my body’s reproduction enabled me to divorce my husband and go to Temple University and on to a Masters Degree. I would never have found myself and my true meaning for this life if I hadn’t taken control of my reproductive rights. I am forever grateful to Planned Parenthood.
Try different types of contraception throughout my life, terminate pregnancies when the timing or partner was wrong, and become a mother when I was ready.
I have had 2. The first was in a relationship that did not need a child brought into it. I was 20, dating a musician. I had my own apartment, was set to leave for school in Cali in September when I turned 21. I found out I was pregnant, he wanted nothing to do with the baby, left to be with band mates. Told me I had to get an abortion. I already knew I had to my escape plan from this toxic relationship depend on it. I went with a friend to planned parenthood got the pill and went through the process. He came home mad I had done it. We fought. My second was very necessary, I was 6 weeks home from the hospital with an aneurysm , I got pregnant from sex I did not want with my partner. Had i had the baby I may not be here today raising my 2 boys with my husband in a loving home. I was on the pill with both pregnancy I aborted. I was doing what was right for me and my future family.
My story is not going to make any headlines — it’s very ordinary. My boyfriend and I used birth control. When I missed my period I went back to the family planning clinic and got a pregnancy test. I had an abortion at about 7 weeks. Things I may not have been able to do in my life if I had continued that pregnancy as a teen: Graduate from college. Buy a first home in my early twenties. Travel and live in foreign countries. Support and care for my parents in their final years. I want every girl and woman, every boy and man, every non-binary person to have access to reproductive care so that they can live the life they choose!
My first pregnancy was ectopic. We hadn’t got the official dr. confirmation yet and I was naive. Despite bleeding heavily, I thought I could rest the pains away. Finally seeking medical attention that evening. The ultrasound confirmed not only was the pregnancy not viable, I was on the verge of hemorrhaging. I got emergency surgery back then, today that would’ve be a death sentence. I would miscarry 2 more times after that which were traumatizing. Today they would’ve landed me in jail. Women’s bodies are theirs not the governments!
Very simply, I would not be here. My daughter would not be here. Any plans or hopes I ever had for my future would have been gone like a puff of smoke. The fact that any choices have been taken away from us, men and women, in the United States, is a travesty and the horror of our age. I never thought I’d feel lucky to have been born in the 1950s, lived through the 1960s, became an adult and had an abortion in the 1970s. Have I and my generation become the privileged ones? I do feel lucky. But I am in despair for my daughter and a whole new generation who must begin the fight again.
Gave me the freedom to live the life I wanted.
When I was 24 I got pregnant after already having 2 children, my uterus had ruptured with the second so when I got pregnant again the doctor said I would most likely die, as well as the baby because my uterus could not handle it, I had to stay alive for my little children so I opted to have an abortion and tubal ligation, if I didn’t have that option my kids would not have had a mom
I was 13 when my youngest brother was born. I remember taking him to the grocery store in a red metal wagon. I worried every time it went over a bump that he would tumble backwards and hit his head. But we needed milk and bread, and my parents weren’t home yet. Outside the grocery, a man tried to sell me a lottery ticket. I told him I wasn’t old enough, and he looked confused. I glanced at my brother riding in the wagon, leaning against a paper grocery bag as tall as him, and realized I looked like his parent. I have always deeply loved my siblings. But I’ve never wanted to be a parent. I joke with people that I’ve been there, done that, changed the diapers, done the time. But it’s not a joke. I have been able to travel the world, pursue a first class education, and explore different jobs, ending up in nonprofit work – art education for kids and adults. I love teaching, and I love being able to go home to rest and recharge, with my spouse and cats. That is my freedom. That is choice.
For us adoption was “Plan A”, not a last resort. Access to reproductive options gave us the choice to not birth children, but instead to adopt. Our girls were born into situations that limited their life options. By choosing to close down my personal reproduction, we were able to open doors for these little girls. It was our life calling to give girls a family, not create more children for a family. Now grown women of the next generation, our daughters understand the importance of women having control over their own body, of reproductive options. Reproductive choice means being able to control your own reproduction system: to choose if, when, and how to have children.
Access to freedom of intimacy without fear of pregnancy gave me the opportunity to experience the love of my life and our happiness and pleasure for 5 years before he left my life.
Pregnant at 26, unmarried and no desire to have a baby then. Roe had become law exactly six weeks prior. I was so fortunate to be able to get a legal abortion (back then they treated you like any maternity patient and did it in a hospital) and carry on with my life and career. Ten years later at age 36, married and settled, I had my daughter. So very grateful that access to reproductive choices and care were available to me. I want that for every woman.
It has allowed me to join the Navy and make some of the best and exciting memories of my life. Women were able to serve on subs before I left the Navy 4 yrs later!!!! I got to see the world and use the GI Bill on uncle Sam’s dime. I didnt have to work 2 jobs during college, I could focus more on my studies with less stress. I cherish my right to vote and be childfree. It has certainly been a blessing for me and other ladies.
Finish college and become a teacher.
I was already a single mother of a 4yr old when I had my abortion. It allowed me to go back to school, get a better job and get a better place to live. It allowed me to better take care of the one child I already had.
Be a productive and loving mother when the time was right .
Our lives depend on this right.
Tell us what you built.
Published in Ms. · Be Part of the Record
What kind of life did access to reproductive choices let you build?
