Everyone I know that’s given me crap about people getting abortions has had one themselves. My grandmother, cousin, ex-best-friend, and even mother-in-law.

My Catholic, conservative MIL, who I live with, even tried to kick me out for getting one done! I didn’t even have a real choice because I was going to die if I tried to carry it to term. She broke down into tears and told me that she wouldn’t have her house become “a home base for abortion”. She said she had one herself when she was 16 and she has felt like “a monster every single day” since then.

It helps to realize that the women in your life that are being hypocritical like this are just trying to save you from all the shame they feel, and are also trying to pass down all that shame that their family and their generation’s society put on them, to you.

Don’t take on everyone else’s guilt. You’re going to have enough of your own to work through without worrying about what other people think of your choice.

Make the best choice for you, first. THEN you can hear out what the father wants, what your parents want, etc. and decide if their opinion factors into your decision at all. And guess what - it never HAS to! Your body, your choice.

Remind them how hard, tiring, draining, and even dangerous it is to carry a child to term. Remind them that your body will be permanently changed after pregnancy and childbirth. Tell them that it’s easy for them to tell you what to do when they aren’t the ones going through what you are going through.

Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to put out there what I wish someone had told me before my abortion!