Abortion
remains one of the most controversial topics in the United States but a new
photo essay looks beyond the politics and at the people who know the effects on
a personal level.
Photographer
Allison Joyce took portraits of five women who opened up about their decisions
to terminate their pregnancies, at different times in their lives and with
varying support from the men in their lives. The women range in age and
live in New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts- three states that are not
generally considered the most conservative in the country. Lisa, a
45-year-old from Massachusetts, says she became pregnant and had two abortions
when she was in her thirties. 'His immediate response was "Well you
can't have it!"' she said. 'It was
such a fast and such a visceral response that he had. I asked him why and he
said "Well you just have to get an abortion- you can't have this baby and
there's no way around it,"' Lisa said.
Aiyana
says it was two years ago when she became pregnant and had an abortion.
'The
clinic I got it done at, they allow men to be in the room. Which most clinics
don't allow. So I set the date for when my boyfriend would be back from tour
because I wanted him to have to experience it with me, I guess,' she told
Reuters.
'You
know because as a male I felt that even though he was undoubtedly affected by
it I sort of wanted him to in some part experience the physicality of
everything that was happening.
'I
think he was kind of freaked out but he was very supportive of me. I'm glad he
was there,' Aiyana said.
Lisa, a
27-year-old restaurant manager in Massachusetts
Lisa
says she was 24 when she became pregnant and had an abortion.
'I told
my husband at the time - we weren't divorced yet but I was leaving him, and he
was really supportive and (it was) surprising because it was not a great
relationship anyway,' she said of the abortion which took place three years
ago.
'I
didn't have to think about it. It wasn't like, "will I, won't I." It
was like, "this is happening."
'I
think I was kind of fortunate in a really sad way that it wasn't a difficult
decision. I was alone. I didn't have any family and I didn't have any friends
really. I had one friend but she was not a very good friend. So I kind of went
through it all alone,' she said.
Jennifer,
a 23-year-old nurse in New York
Jennifer
says she was only 17 when she became pregnant and had an abortion.
'I was
against abortion. I really was - I was against it. My mom has gone through so
many troubles with pregnancies that I wouldn't want to do that,' she said.
'But at
the same time, at the time I only had one parent there. My father was
incarcerated, so I knew he'd be super duper disappointed in me. And then my mom
was just like, "You know if you get pregnant you're out of here because
you're grown." After that, I made my decision in about two months.
'After
the procedure, I was crying. As soon as I woke up from the bed, I was crying.
Crying, crying. And a woman next to me asked me how old I was, and I said 17.
She said "You did the right thing girl. You did the right thing because
you're too young. You have your whole life ahead of you."
'And, I
still think I did the right thing because he's still a terrible person.'
Leigh,
a 26-year-old bartender in Pennsylvania
Leigh
was 21 when she became pregnant and had an abortion five years ago.
'Honestly,
I don't think I'm ever going to really forget any detail about any of it, down
to the one decision that made it actually end up becoming that.
'All of
a sudden it's a month and a half and getting nauseous with beer and you know..
(the) test came back positive and everything.
'We sat
out and we talked about it and he was a sweetheart about everything for the
most part. He made it very clear that it was my choice. But at the same time,
he was also very honest about what would happen, going this way or that way,
with the decision.
'If we
were to have the kid, we would get married and be together for the rest of our
lives. If we didn't work out and we broke up for some reason, he would fight
for full custody of the kid and make sure I never saw them again.'
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