i grew up catholic in the chicago suburbs. there was a lot of emphasis placed on the 10 commandments and morality. i remember when i was young and thinking that having an abortion was absolute: you killed, and therefore you are forever a bad person.

i always thought i'd have a child at 27. that's the age my mother had me, the age my grandmother was when she had my mother. but when i became pregnant at 27, it wasn't the way i had seen it.

in early 2010 i woke up in bed at my boyfriend's house with a pain in my abdomen. the pain persisted and became unbearable over the course of an hour and he decided to take me to the hospital.

i traveled to mexico when i was 17. i went to study pottery and spanish. i started seeing a man 10 years older than i was- i got pregnant.

my abortion was fairly recent. it was in august. my nuvaring failed and i ended up pregnant. my boyfriend and i had discussed what we would do in the event of a pregnancy and knew that abortion was the right choice for us. but when it happened we were shocked. i foolishly thought it could never happen to me.

i was 22. i had just graduated from college and recently accepted into a teaching credential program. my ex-boyfriend and i just moved in together, everything was going in the direction it was supposed to.