UK- An abortion at the age of 23 gave me freedom

An abortion at the age of 23 gave me freedom
During the Irish referendum, there was a lot of talk about abortion in extreme cases, but some – like mine – are banal but necessary

Hadley Freeman
Sat 2 Jun 2018

When I was 23, my life forked. Until then, it had felt like one of those LA freeways with half a dozen lanes: I had options in terms of which path I took, but they were all going in the same general direction.

I was barely making a living in a job I enjoyed, and living in a dump with friends I adored. Life was wide open. Then one day I took a pregnancy test and suddenly there were two directions for me: have the baby or don’t. I cried on the bathroom floor with my best friend, but the tears were out of embarrassment that I had been so careless. They weren’t out of fear. It was years before I appreciated what a privilege that was.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/02/an-abortion-at-the-age-of-23-gave-me-freedom