I’m an unlikely person to be supporting Alabama’s new pro-life law. I was pro-choice for many years, and as a young woman I had not one, but two abortions.
Both of my abortions would have been illegal under Alabama’s new law passed last week. The law bans abortion at all stages and allows an exception only to save the life of the mother. Other states like Missouri and Louisiana aren’t far behind Alabama—and I applaud them all.
I’ve come a long way to get to this position. As I mentioned, I was once pro-choice. In 1972, I actually joined a high school walk-out march protesting the fact that Planned Parenthood wasn’t allowed to do a presentation at our school.
After graduating from nursing school, but before receiving my license, I was working in a hospital in Maryland. One evening, I was asked to assist a doctor with some procedures. I was not aware that this hospital did second trimester abortions until I arrived on the floor and was given my assignment.
There were three women there—all had been given saline injections into their uterus, and then placed on Pitocin drips to encourage contractions.