On January 22nd, it marked the 43rd anniversary of one of the most famous supreme court cases, Roe V. Wade. With this court decision, it made abortion a safe and legal procedure in the United States. Since the legalization of abortion, it has always had opposition. Laws have been created to limit a woman's access to the procedure and crisis pregnancy centers have been created to look like abortion clinics, only to trick women into thinking they will be able to have an abortion there. They try to convince women that they will feel guilt for making a constitutional right of theirs and how it will haunt them for the rest of their lives. However, this is simply not true and most women do not regret their abortions. In a survey, it was found that 95 percent of women who had an abortion did not have regrets for having the procedure done. If anything, these "pro-life" people only made me feel bad for not regretting my abortion.

There are many reasons why women do not regret their abortion, but here are a few of my own:

1. It Allowed Me To Finish School

Coming from a single mother household, I was already limited with resources available. Having a child would have made it impossible for me to return to school (I was taking a break at the time) and I am not sure if I would have ever been able to go back. If anything, unplanned pregnancy made me realize my life was going in a direction I did not want it to go in. My abortion led me to becoming a reproductive justice activist, and lead me to getting my Bachelors of Arts in Gender and Women Studies.

2. My Future Children (well, if I have any)

If I continued with the pregnancy, I would have been limited on resources for my child and I. Having an abortion has allowed me to be able to be able to advanced my school career so I can land a job that pays a living salary. Also, if I did not have an abortion, I would only have one child. I am not sure if I want children, but having an abortion made it possible for me to decide if I want to have many children later on, I will be able to.

3. My Constitutional Right

"Pro life" activists try to make it seem like what you are doing is "wrong" or even "illegal." The problem with this is that it is not illegal! I and many other women have done nothing wrong, and we had every right to act upon a right that is given to us. Many people will ask why I had an abortion and I would feel like I need to make up an excuse. I would give the excuse that I was young and not in school, all of them were true, but why does it matter why I had one? I simply acted on something I am allowed to do and now when people ask, I say because it's my right to do so.

Along with many other women, my abortion was a hard time in my life, but the decision to have one is not one I regret. I would not change anything that has happened to me as it has formed who I am as a person. Regret is not the default when it comes to after abortion feelings, and it needs to recognized as such.