Abortion: one girl’s story

DIBYA SUBEDI/Cabell Midland

By Casey Jones
Sissonville High School

Editor’s note: The name of the student in this article has been withheld due to the sensitive subject matter.

Abortion is one of those topics that’s always hot, always in the news. Some people argue that abortion is wrong and that it should be outlawed. Others argue that it’s a woman’s body and it’s her choice what to do with it.

But sometimes the issue isn’t so black and white. What if the woman was raped? What if she knew that her child was going to be extremely mentally or physically handicapped? What if she knew that she wasn’t mentally or fiscally ready to become a parent or that her body wasn’t ready to allow her to become a mother?

In these types of siutations, the moms-to-be are forced to make life-changing decisions that can be awkward, embarrassing, scary and/or emotionally devastating.

Within the past year, one 16-year-old Sissonville High School student experienced this firsthand. Here is what she had to say:

“I had broken up with my boyfriend about two months before I got pregnant. I had everything that I wanted or needed. I had family and friends that loved me very much, and I had a wonderful job.

“After I got over my break-up, I started seeing a guy, and we slept together often. One day, I had a bad feeling. I can’t explain it. I just knew something was up, so I took a pregnancy test. The results were positive. I was pregnant.

“When I first found out that I was pregnant, I was nervous and scared. I didn’t know what to do. Eventually, I told my dad, and he was very disappointed. He took me to the doctor’s office a few times, and when I was about a month and a half along, I found out that my body wouldn’t be able to carry the baby.

“That’s when I made the decision to have an abortion. I just didn’t feel like carrying the pregnancy out and having myself and the baby hurt more. If I couldn’t carry the baby, it could be born dead. I couldn’t deal with that.

“I was really sad, and I wished that there was something that I could do. My grades dropped because I was missing an awful lot of school. Things were going wrong at home. I was very depressed and lonely, and I felt like nobody was really there for me. [With the baby,] I had wanted someone who could and would always love me back.

“The father of the child never really had anything to say about the whole situation. He didn’t care. He was just like, ‘Well, I don’t want nothing to do with it.’

“I do have a lot of regrets. I feel that taking the baby’s life was my fault even though I couldn’t carry it anyway. I’ll always wonder what would’ve happened if I had decided to carry the baby.

“This ordeal has made me think about the decisions that I’ve made and the decisions that I am going to make in the future. From now on, I am going to practice safer sex.”

She urged readers to do the same. “[Unprotected sex] can be a really big mistake. I wouldn’t want someone to have a child that would be brought up not having a good life because their mom was too young to take care of them.”

Help is Available

If you are pregnant and seeking an abortion, there are two places you can go:

Women’s Health Center of W.Va.
510 Washington St. W., Charleston
Website: www.whcwva.com
Phone: 344-9834 or (800) 642-8670

The center offers pregnancy tests, abortions, birth control and emergency contraceptive (Plan B). To have an abortion, you must be at least four weeks along in your pregnancy and no more than 14. If you are under 18, you must have either parental consent or a waiver of parental notification.

Kanawha SurgiCenter
4803 MacCorkle Ave. S.E., Charleston
Website: www.gynpages.com/ksc/
Phone: 925-6390 or (800) 642-1011

The Surgicenter only offers abortions. You must be at least six weeks along and no more than 18 weeks. The further along you are, the more expensive the procedure will be. If you are under 18, you must have either parental consent or a waiver of parental notification.

***

Protect yourself beforehand by practicing safe sex. The West Virginia Family Planning Program offers free or low-cost birth control.

For information on the program, including clinics in your area, call 558-5388 or (800) 642-8522 or visit www.wvdhhr.org/mcfh/wvfp/.