Rebecca’s Story.

My mother had an abortion in the mid-1980s after she fell pregnant whilst in a relationship with a married man. I remember when she went to hospital. She told me she had to have some sort of operation; that was all I knew about it.

Back then, not only was there a stigma about abortion, but she’d gotten pregnant to a married man. She couldn’t tell anyone about it. She already had two young children—it must have been very difficult for her. It wasn’t until I was maybe 13 years old that she told me about it. It was at a stage where we were having discussions about sex and pregnancy.

Mum telling me her story was a good way for me to understand first-hand what she had been through. She struggled with the decision and still today thinks about how old the baby would be. But it just wasn’t the right time and rightly, she made that decision for herself. Back then, it certainly wasn’t something you discussed with your friends over coffee.

I am very pro-choice. I get really upset with people who try to interfere with that choice. I used to be a lawyer and I’m very firm on the view that men should have no legal say over what happens to a woman’s body—particularly in relation to reproduction. I think that morally it’s different and it’s different in every circumstance. I would like to think that if I’m in a loving relationship and I fell pregnant by accident, that would be a decision that we would make together. But that decision would be something that I would invite my partner into because of our circumstances. It would not be a given in every situation.

I’ve taken the emergency contraceptive several times. The first time I took it I was 16. My boyfriend at the time wanted to know what it felt like to have sex without a condom, and I was very young and felt like I was unable to say no to his request. When you’re young, you’re often terrified that sex will lead to pregnancy. I felt very fortunate that I had the emergency contraceptive as an option. If I had gotten pregnant, I would have absolutely had an abortion.

If you have a personal story or find SHE CHOSE. inspiring I’d love to hear from you. You can leave comments below. Stay tuned for the next instalment where I’ll be introducing Kristen.

Thanks for visiting and reading about a project I have been truly passionate about!

G x