Women express their gratitude for their abortions

in one piece Posted by The Nation on Thanksgiving, several women said they were thankful they had abortions.

“I am grateful to have accessed my abortions in Texas when it was still legal in the state and that my diverse abortion experiences guide my work now,” Nikiya Natale wrote in the article. “But I am thankful for my two abortions. I’m grateful that I didn’t want to be a parent at the time, so I didn’t have to be a parent at the time. The blessing of planning a pregnancy and having a child when I want to have a child is something I am very grateful for. I’m really grateful for that, especially in this political climate and moment.”

Natale is the deputy director of the pro-choice organization We Testify, according to the group website.

Savannah Williams, who is listed as operations coordinator on the organization’s website, celebrated that the abortion allowed her to finish college and start a business without worrying about childcare.

“When I think about how far I’ve come and what I’ve been able to do — like finish college and start my small business — I’m grateful that I’ve been able to do it without worrying about the Making ends meet and struggling to take care of two young children I wasn’t ready for. I am grateful for the freedom of self. Some people might call that selfish, but I don’t think it is. I am able to take care of myself and live free from fears and parts of my life that I had to leave behind. I’m deeply grateful that I was able to make a decision that was good for me,” Williams said.

Kenya Martin, who is listed as a program manager on the We Testify website, said she is “grateful… for every abortion” she has had.

“In 2015, I was sitting at my local abortion clinic filling out my paperwork. This wasn’t my first abortion, but things took a turn for the worst when I suddenly felt very sick and had trouble formulating a sentence. I had a fallopian tube pregnancy; I was bleeding internally from a ruptured fallopian tube and needed emergency surgery,” noted Martin.

“Ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilized egg implants and grows outside the main cavity of the uterus,” she said Mayo Clinic. “An ectopic pregnancy cannot be normal. The fertilized egg cannot survive and the growing tissue can cause life-threatening bleeding if left untreated.”