At the age of 22 I found out I had become pregnant. I was in college
at the time and was sustaining a very low budget lifestyle.
Immediately I knew I wanted an abortion. I was in a long term
relationship and had the full backing and support of my partner.
Neither of us felt any of our other options were feasible.
One of the crippling issues to deal with once this decision was made
was how we could possibly afford to travel and pay for the abortion.
Unlike many others, we were lucky enough to find the money in time.
Unfortunately there was the added stress of my college exams which
were fast approaching. As a result I had no other option but to fly to
England, get the abortion and fly back in the same day. If abortion
was available in Ireland I would never have had so much unneeded extra
stress. When the abortive process came into full affect I was in the
airport waiting for my flight home. These are the factors that come in
to play when women are subject to archaic laws set in place by a State
that does not consider the impacts it can have on individual women’s
lived experiences.
I have never regretted my decision to have an abortion. I was capable
of finishing my degree and moving my life in a direction that I wanted
it to go in. A child or a pregnancy carried to full term was not
something I wanted at that stage in my life. Unfortunately the
experience was made much more difficult financially, mentally and
physically because Ireland does not offer this service to the hundreds
of women who seek it every year.
Abortion did not tear my life apart. It gave me the opportunity to
live a life I wanted and gave me the full autonomy to decide what I
wanted to do with my body.Hey peoples, this is a new blog featuring stories of people in Ireland who had abortions. It’s still mostly illegal here, so accessing one can be a nightmare.
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Paula's Story
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