I'm Glad I Did

About 13 years ago, I had an abortion. I wonder sometimes if the perception that abortion is a traumatic experience followed by intense guilt and regret is fueled by the fact that there is so much more to say about a traumatic abortion than a normal uneventful one. I know several people who have had abortions and like me most of them feel it really wasn't a big deal. I never have regretted it. I rarely think about it (only doing so now because I am just past a pregnancy scare where abortion would have again been an option). I have never once wondered "what might have been." Making the decision was hard, but the aftermath was easy. The pain wasn't any worse than a period. After a couple of weeks of recovery my life really did just go on as if the pregnancy never happened. Those who preach that it is so traumatic say it doesn't really happen that way, but for me that is exactly how it happened.

The closest I can come to an analogy is a near miss of a car accident. Of course you are shaken and upset for a little while, but soon you get over it. Something important, devastating, and life changing almost happened, but it didn't actually happen. Fortunately I managed to find a way to avoid the dire consequences of an unplanned pregnancy and I was very relieved. It was the very best choice I could have made.

By the way, I had a surgical vacuum abortion. From all the descriptions I have read they seem to be a lot less painful than a medical abortion (the pills you take at home.) I just had some cramping during the procedure and period like cramps for a few days afterwards. Didn't even need ibuprophen or anything but the local anestethia that they use during the procedure.