The mud seeped through her torn boots. She staggered out the door of the Idaho clinic, her head spinning.
“You made the right choice, sweetheart. God bless you,” the sickly-sweet haunting male voice made her want to vomit.
“I did not have the choice.” She barely choked it out.
“What was that you said?” the male voice demanded.
“Nothing. Have a good day,” she muttered.
She trudged through the streets, more tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
The flash of a neon blue ‘Rx’ caught her eye. A pharmacy.
A smile danced across her lips. Wiping her tears, she opened the door.
“How can we help you today?” the pharmacist asked.
“I am umm looking for-for an abortion pill,” she inquired.
“Oh my. We are not allowed to sell that here,” the pharmacist announced.
“Oh,” she muttered.
Gone went the smile.
Without another word, she stumbled out of the pharmacy.
“You made the right choice, kiddo,” a boastful voice called after her.
“I did not have the choice,” she croaked.
“Sorry? I didn’t hear you,” the voice called.
“Nothing,” she sighed the word.
It was not nothing.
She tossed off her boots almost immediately as she returned to her home.
She grabbed her laptop and sat down on the couch, hurriedly searching.
A surge of joy shot through her body. A pill. Delivered to her door. Wincing at the price, she frantically typed in her credit card information.
The screen exploded in a red warning.
“We are not allowed to deliver to your state.”
Crying out, she threw her laptop across the room and sank down to her knees.
“You made the right choice.”
That voice. That too familiar voice.
“Leave me alone!” she shrieked.
“You made the right choice,” his voice made her ill.
“I did not have the choice,” she sobbed.
“No, it was me who did not have a choice. Did you seriously not want me when you were wearing that sexy outfit?” the sinister voice taunted.
“Leave me alone.” She scrambled to her feet, looking around frantically for him.
There was no one there.
No one.
Nobody, at all. Not anymore.
In a frenzy, she headed for the bathroom. Throwing open the medicine cabinet, she grabbed out every pill bottle in sight.
Please,” she sobbed. “I have to move on.”
Swallowing each pill with a panicky gulp, she prayed to get rid of the thing inside of her.
A constant reminder.
She gulped many pills with water.
Gulp.
Gulp. Gulp.
She stumbled backwards. Her vision was going black. She could not see.
She could not breathe.
Gulp, gulp.
Why could she barely breathe?
Thud.
The door was flung open.
A piercing cry echoed off the tiled walls. Straining to find the source of such a horrible noise, she could see the thin outline of her mother, standing over her.
“What did you do?!” her mother sobbed. “Why would you do this?!”
“I…I did..n’t,” she could hardly speak. Her throat was closing, her life waning.
“…I did not have the choice.”
Photo Art/Cropping/Enhancement: Rosa Yamamoto / Feminine-Perspective-Magazine
“I did not have the choice.” That is the unseen crime of lawmakers who bully girls with laws that deny reproductive rights.
Abortion is a banned medical procedure for millions of American women and girls.
The Supreme Court in late June 2022 overruled Roe v. Wade, eliminating the American woman’s constitutional right to an abortion after almost 50 years. Since then, some 13 states have banned the abortion medical procedure.
The RINJ Foundation, fighting for the safety of women and children says, “that includes making certain complete health care is available to all women and girls. Abortion care must be safe, timely, affordable, non-discriminatory and respectful. Care must be effective, efficient, accessible, acceptable, patient-centered, equitable and above all, safe.”
Discussing the medical procedures involved in a failed pregnancy requiring intervention is beyond your ability, *unless you are the patient or the doctor in the case.
“I did not have the choice.” When there is no other way out for a young pregnant girl, suicide is an unseen crime of lawmakers who use their power to bully girls.
Dr. Nassima al Amouri, a medical director of The RINJ Foundation says, “Abortion care must be safe, timely, affordable, non-discriminatory and respectful. Care must be effective, efficient, accessible, acceptable, patient-centered, equitable and above all, safe.”