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Abortion Out Loud began as the 1 in 3 Campaign, a storytelling campaign to which over 1500 people have contributed their abortion stories. We are honored to continue to share stories and to connect storytellers with policy makers who are making decisions about abortion access.

Share your Story with Abortion Out Loud 

Read the Stories

Diann

I got pregnant in December 1970. I was an 18 year old college freshman, a virgin, with very little sexual experience.

Erica

There is nothing more powerful than women coming together to share their stories, to witness another while setting their truth free.

Charlie

I did not see a medical provider before because I did not want anyone to know and deal with them projecting their stuff onto me. I found a non-profit online that partners with pharmacies to mail the abortion pills.

Eline

It is your decision, and yours only! Don’t be scared to stand up for what you believe in.

Adriana

I got in contact with a group of local feminists who use Facebook to guide other women through medicated at home abortions. I went to my nearest pharmacy to buy misoprostol.

Tamara

To all of the people that say that abortion complications are a reason to rob people of the right to have abortions: I had abortion complications and I never once have regretted my decision to have an abortion.

Sarah

If I had a child with my abuser, my child’s life would have been broken from the start. That’s not fair to them or me.

Jane

After both agreeing that it was not the time, we went through the abortion and worked on our marriage. Now - 9 months later, the heartbeat abortion bill was passed and I can only imagine all the heartbreak and stress this is causing for many women, men, and families.

Alyssa

I got my abortion during the Covid-19 Pandemic. I was finishing my final semester remotely and knew that my best option was an abortion. The person who got me pregnant was manipulating me constantly and I knew that I could not have a baby with this person.

Gabriella

People like me who have experienced harm and trauma from society and interpersonal relationships are best equipped to make decisions for the world and themselves, especially when it comes to our bodies. I consider myself a changemaker and my passion for advocacy comes from my personal experience having to fight for myself and my rights.

Victoria

Victoria shares her story on video.

Dev

By supporting Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers, I feel like I’m doing a small part to facilitate access to services in safe and caring environments. It pains me to see misinformed protesters trying to persuade and cajole young people walking into the clinic to change their minds, as if they know what’s best for someone’s life other than their own.

Jessy

After my abortion, and after much time, there was a moment of relief and peace. I came to terms that I made the right decision. That moment of my shame being lifted off me was so liberating.

Carolyne

I remember walking through the pro-life hate picketers. I wanted them to know that I did not want to do that to my body but I could not responsibly bring up a child.

Jae

Because of access to safe medical abortion, I was able to graduate from college and live my life as a transgender non-binary person. Abortion is a transgender issue, too.

Katryna

I want to share my experience to inform others that it’s not always a horrible experience to put an end to a difficult situation.

Cat

Sharing my story is important to me because I want every woman who has been in this position, or currently going through it to know they also are capable of getting through any perceived negative situation by the power of their mind. By moving forward with love & a pure heart, anything is possible with the intention, belief & faith.

Jeana

Jeana shares her story on video.

Elizabeth

My story is one of self preservation, grief, emotions, interconnectedness and self love. My story includes the duality of life and death, loneliness and community, nostalgia and joy. Among all these things, my choice to have an abortion is one of the most powerful and life giving choices I have ever made for myself.

Marie

Marie shares their story on video.

Emily

I never considered writing about my abortion experience. Maybe because it was traumatizing, maybe because it was personal, , but maybe also because it was none of anybody’s damn business.

Veronika

Veronika shares her story on video.

Shelby

I had a medical abortion when I was 9 weeks and 1 day pregnant. I was a single mother of 2 children already and in an unstable relationship.

Angellie

“Cuando tuve mi primer aborto yo tenía 22 años y mi hija Amahia tenía 1 año. Ella tiene Osteogénesis Imperfecta y en aquel momento sólo pensaba en lo incierto que era brindarle todos los cuidados necesarios, siendo madre primeriza con una niña con una condición genética, conocida como “huesos de cristal."

Jean

For some to tell me I murdered a child; I would say that’s the same as your wishing my other children dead, as my husband and I know we wouldn’t have stayed together to have these children all those years later. We were too young. We made the life we wanted. Again, I’m grateful.

Lydia

All feelings, emotions, and thoughts are valid when going through something that affects your life, including abortion. And abortion isn’t always what you expect it to be.

Alexis

artifacts i think i got pregnant on this bedspread. a queen sheet, taken from the curb outside an anthropologie in soho. it covered a mattress found on craigslist.

Cassandra

The day of the procedure, the clinic was packed. It was 8 hours of waiting. I spoke to some of the other women that were there. Everyone had their own story and reason for why they had chosen this path. I judge no one. People make the best decision, with what they have at that very moment. I have no regrets.

Rachel

“I have felt in the past like an outcast in my own home state for having an abortion. I will no longer apologize or seclude myself for saving my own life and future that I share with my little family.

Amanda

I figured out when I got pregnant, it was during my vacation with my boyfriend. I calculated my approximate due date. I had way too much time to think.. But still, there was no way. Now was just not the time.

Stephanie

I am at peace with my decision to have had multiple abortions be a catalyst to live the life I’ve always wanted. I am strong. I am confident. I am everything I’ve ever wanted to be and have always been even when I didn’t believe in myself.

Cazembe

I want other trans people to be able to see themselves in the reproductive justice movement. I also feel like every time I tell my story I take a little bit of power back for myself. It’s my story and I get to tell it how I want to.

Sabrina

I'm called a murderer, a sinner, and worse. I made the decision to terminate a planned and wanted pregnancy because my baby was dying inside of me and her condition could have become "mirror syndrome" and cause damage and swelling to my organs as well.

Renee and Daniela

Everyone loves someone who had an abortion. Todxs amamos a alguien quien tuvo un aborto.

Nicole

A major battle I faced from going through an abortion is the guilt. I kept thinking, ‘I must bring a child into this world one day’ as if I owed it to the universe in some way. I no longer think in this manner. My life will be fulfilled no matter what happens, children or no children.

Leign Ann

After my abortion, I felt pain, sadness, emptiness, and relief. I knew my decision was the right one. Now I’m 29 and have completed a master’s degree and have obtained employment teaching sexuality education.

Brittany

I was a mother of three young children when I became pregnant in 2007. Abortion was the best option for and my daughters. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Having that abortion changed the trajectory of our lives.

Mel

Without abortion a woman’s choice is be a mum or be a virgin. I feel no shame, no sorrow for my choice. I am truly grateful I live in a country where I can access services relatively easily and I thank the medical practitioners who enable that.

Vivian

At 17 I was forced to travel across state lines to authorize my abortion service without a parent’s involvement. At this age, I felt I was mature enough to make an informed decision about my body and my future. I refused to go before a judge to seek permission to get a procedure without a parents permission.

Krystal

I couldn’t stay in the awful relationship with the man that beat me. So I had an abortion. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my life and something I would do again if I had to.

Xandi

I was in an abusive relationship when I found out I was pregnant. A protester on the sidewalk tried to take my picture, but a clinic volunteer shielded me with an umbrella. A photo of me walking into an abortion clinic could have put my life in danger.

Chavela

Removing the pregnancy and insertion of my IUD took 4 minutes, and I was done.

Susan

When I hear about people speaking of late term or ‘partial birth’ abortions, it is beyond distressing. This was the most painful decision I have ever made, yet I am eternally grateful that I had the opportunity to make it.

Stephanie

I had the unconditional emotional and financial support of my family. I was empowered to make my own decisions and was never told ‘no’ or ‘wait.’ Choice shouldn’t be a privilege; it should be the standard experience for every pregnancy.

JC

the condition I had takes the clotting factor out of the woman’s blood and creates a risk that the woman will bleed to death if/when she actually miscarries. This was in the days when abortion was illegal in most states and hard to get even in those states which didn’t ban it outright–so this was potentially a matter of life or death for me.

Sriya

After getting my abortion, I ended up doing a standup comedy set about it the very next day. And that snowballed into producing a comedy show where comics tell their abortion stories.

Julia

When my husband and I found out, two days ago after taking 4 at home pregnancy tests, we sat down after work to discuss our options. We talked about how we could afford and are capable of a child. Yet, neither of us wants a child right now.

Sally

Many people feel like there’s an expectation for those who’ve made the decision to terminate a pregnancy to be strong at all times. Totally put together–this is what we wanted isn’t it?

Katie

Although I have always been strongly pro choice it was something I had thought I could never personally put myself through, the guilt would be too strong. But I chose to and now years clear of that relationship it is with an absolute assurance that I know it was the right thing to do.

Molly

I get to live in the best city in the world and pursue the career I have in comedy because of abortion. I have so much love for abortion, it makes me literally jump for joy.

Donna

When I eventually did have a baby in my thirties, I realized I never would have been able to do it on my own and it would have been very difficult for the two of us.

Latoya

My abortion helped me find myself. It gave me the opportunity to continue searching for my purpose. I am now one with myself and I love the woman I have become.

Mallory

My abortion allowed me to keep my life on track, quickly and permanently leave my abusive marriage, and keep myself safe in the process.

Anne

https://www.advocatesforyouth.org/abortion-stories/abortion-story-4283/

Demeri

My heritage has always been important to me. My family means the world to me. My culture and my people are a source of strength.

Lisette

First of all, when you are desperately poor like that and under the influence, it becomes hard to do the most basic day to day things, let alone find the money to travel out of town for several days to access healthcare.

Lucy

A year after my abortion, I was able to open my own business; the resulting pride and sense of accomplishment I feel with this new venture is a direct result of my ability to choose.

Sandy

I was thrilled to be pregnant with my 2nd child. At 12 weeks, the ultrasound showed a neural tube defect. The skull had not closed- Encephalocele. The doctor gave me two gut-wrenching choices.

Elizabeth

it is my duty to end stigma that surrounds abortion, so that we can all have the access and privacy to make our own decisions about our bodies and not some politician.

Yesenia

A very close friend of mine talked about the possibility, otherwise I truly had never even considered a pregnancy termination. I was like, wait, you mean I don’t have to have three kids under 5 years old?

Karen

I am free now. But for decades I lived in a cruel kind of inner solitary confinement. I had two abortions in my teens that saved my life and my future, but I was frightened into silent isolation for decades by endless messages of shame in society.

Benny

My abortion was my first taste at freedom – it was the first time I held my head up and looked my abuser right in the eye, confronting him. I chose freedom.

Jenn

To women out there that have had to make any choice or faced any outcome from a pregnancy, you’re not alone, and you’re strong as hell, because you’re facing a battle that’s much bigger than yourself.

Joy

Scheduling my abortion felt like the first, real, adult decision I made for myself. It felt like taking control of my life, and committing to what I wanted for myself.

Margot

In 1985, when I was 21, and had my abortion, (unmarried, needed to finish college, highly catholic family would have been devastated) there was so much stigma and shame associated with abortion, that I was afraid to tell anyone and only shared it with one friend!

Ashley

I am a Christian and I had an abortion. I want fellow Christians to know that having an abortion(s) won’t separate you from the love of God. My abortion was a blessing.

Madison

The emotion I felt most often before, during, and after my abortion was gratitude. I was grateful beforehand for the supportive friends and campaigns like this one that helped me have peace with my decision.

Jessica

A couple days later I called the man that I had slept with, the first thing he said was “I am not in a position to be a father.”

Rose

I️ was in a emotionally abusive relationship and I️ became pregnant but nowhere ready to have a child. I️ was very lucky to have a very necessary abortion because if I️ hadn’t I️ would have had raised a child with someone who would eventually abuse the child.

Angie

I have been told that God can punish me for my abortions, but I know that God’s love doesn’t work that way.

Alli

I worked very hard to get to where I am and I think about my journey often, especially when I put my work scrubs on. I am proud of the choices I’ve made and that includes choosing to not have children yet.

Shawna

During this experience, I felt so alone, so terrible, so ashamed… but because of this experience, my views have changed. My world has shifted.

Adriana

Abortion should be legal, safe and free for every woman that decides to terminate her pregnancy.

Ale

My fight against systemic racism and incarceration has informed, for the most part, if and when I will create a family. My future is unknown.

Ariana

I am a woman, and I have a right to do whatever I so choose with my body, and I won’t let anyone make me feel less for doing so.

Yamani

Abortion, birth, and miscarriage are all a part of my life story and I am proud to talk about and advocate for support for all pregnancy options.

Brooke

Whoever you are and whatever the reason, no one can make this decision for you! Stand strong and know that you have many on your side!

Krista

I just received my first medicated abortion today.

Nichole

Another child would be a burden that I couldn’t and wouldn’t want to face alone. It was the right choice for my daughter and I at the time.

Read the full collection of stories