Little did I know I would have my own ability to access an abortion challenged later that year.
When I became pregnant and didn't want to be, I knew that I couldn't count on the clinic in Mobile for an abortion. Like many other states, Alabama's medically unnecessary abortion restrictions create long waits and limit the number of providers, plus I'd have to have two appointments with a 48-hour waiting period in between.
So I looked to Florida. With a 6:15 am appointment booked, my boyfriend and I embarked on our drive to Pensacola long before the sun came up. But even with such an early appointment, we didn't beat the protesters. There were two security guards at the door, and they told us I had to go in solo.
For a student, the price was steep, and my boyfriend had to take the money out of his student loan funds. But despite the obstacles and stress, thanks to my abortion, my life went back to how I wanted it — back to normal.
This month is the anniversary of the historic Roe v. Wade decision. This case made the right to abortion the law of the land. It protects my right and yours to decide if and when to become a parent. Yet Roe only protects the RIGHT to abortion — it doesn't guarantee people access. Politicians who want to roll back our abortion rights have manipulated state laws so much that for many, getting an abortion is still very hard, if not impossible. Without access to abortion for all, the right Roe protects is abstract, not real.
I got the abortion I wanted. I am among the lucky ones. And that's why I'm in this fight. The providers who compassionately provide abortion services to patients, the advocates who fight to break down systemically racist restrictions, the donors who help keep costs affordable — we're all a part of the crucial work to make safe, legal abortion accessible to all.
Until abortion is a right not just in name but in reality for everyone, I'll be fighting. Will you be with me?
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In solidarity,
Sarah S., Alabama
