I Had an Abortion During the Covid-19 Pandemic. And I’m Not Alone.
Health care barriers and social distancing make this experience even harder to navigate — but you have more supporters than you even know
Motherhood was never something I gave much thought to. As an 18-year-old still putting my life together, that was the last thing I wanted.
I’ve always been in tune with my body. When my period was four days late, I knew something was wrong, but I waited. On the seventh day, I took a pregnancy test, and it was no surprise that I was pregnant.
I knew what I needed to do — I couldn’t go through with an unwanted pregnancy — I just didn’t know how to get an abortion. Everything was so stressful; it was the only thing I could think about.
This pandemic didn’t make my situation any better. I was already into about a month of lockdown when I found out I was pregnant. I was scared that my rights would be taken away, and I would be forced to go through with an unwanted pregnancy.
Like many Americans, I didn’t have health insurance, but I’d heard that abortions cost up to $500 and even more for the surgical procedure. I had no idea how I’d be able to afford that within a few weeks.
