Submitted by: Kathleen in Oklahoma

It’s been many years since my abortion. Although I think of it from time to time with sadness, I still believe I made the right decision to end a pregnancy that resulted from a casual sexual encounter — I was young and it was the 1970s.

It was a horrible time for me to contemplate bringing a child into the world. My epilepsy was wildly out of control and I was heavily medicated. I could barely function much less care for a child. Even so, I might have tried, but calculating that I had had a contrast brain scan when I was two weeks pregnant made me realize that there was an excellent chance the baby’s development was compromised.

Terminating the pregnancy was difficult, but I still believe it was the right decision. Shortly afterward, I decided to have a tubal ligation to prevent any chance of a future pregnancy. The decision to abort my pregnancy was extremely difficult. Would I make the same decision again? Yes, I think I would.