Gratefully, I have never had an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy.

But in my early 20’s I worked in an OB-GYN office. One of the physicians performed in-office D&Cs and on a few occasions, I was called on to assist him during the procedure.

Not one of those women WANTED to have an abortion. One young woman had been raped. Two had partners who refused to use condoms, even though the women were unable to tolerate oral contraceptives and had problems with the IUD. The others had used contraceptives that failed.

I’d also seen a woman who miscarried at about 3 months bring in her fetus. A fetus that looked pretty well-formed to me. (It was a very weird reason that she had to bring the fetus in to the doctor, but that’s another, rather gruesome, story).

I have no idea when life begins. I think making the decision to end a pregnancy must be unbelievably hard for many women. And I know many women carry a huge burden of guilt with them about having ended a pregnancy.

Overturning Roe v Wade may seem the ‘pro-life’ thing to do. We can not claim to be pro-life if our care for that new being ends when the child is delivered. Pro-life must extend further, caring for that life until it is able to care for itself.

Personally, I would prefer that we didn’t need to have access to abortion. That all women could have access to reliable birth control, that both men and women bore more responsibility for preventing pregnancy. That the entire responsibility of pregnancy and child-rearing were shared equally. But, when all else fails, women need to have access to safe abortions, never reverting back to the days of hangers or bicycle spokes.