# Women of the SDMB: Have you ever had an abortion? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 8, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890 "2011-08-08T01:19:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890/1 "2011-08-08T01:19:43Z")
Spin-off of [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14090391#post14090391). I’m just curious. Anonymous poll of course, feel free to share details if you’d like. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890/2 "2011-08-08T03:15:17Z")
[cricket] cheep, cheep cheep, cheep, cheep, cheep, cheep [/cricket] ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890/3 "2011-08-08T03:38:48Z")
No, I was never unintentionally pregnant (faithful hormonal birth control + a little luck, since it can fail). I would have, if faced with an unplanned pregnancy. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890/4 "2011-08-10T22:45:17Z")
…interesting results so far. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890/5 "2011-08-10T23:48:31Z")
39, have never been pregnant, have not intended/ worked at becoming so, either. I guess I’m skilled at eating pills daily. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890/6 "2011-08-11T01:51:26Z")
> [@Glory](#): > > No, I was never unintentionally pregnant (faithful hormonal birth control + a little luck, since it can fail). I would have, if faced with an unplanned pregnancy. Same here. I look back and think: very lucky. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890/7 "2011-08-11T04:38:18Z")
I really can’t answer the poll with those options. I WOULD have obtained an abortion, if they were legal when/where I was pregnant and needed one. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890/8 "2011-08-11T10:53:23Z")
> [@Glory](#): > > No, I was never unintentionally pregnant (faithful hormonal birth control + a little luck, since it can fail). I would have, if faced with an unplanned pregnancy. Same thing here. I had a coworker ask me how it was that I’d **never** been pregnant, like that was an amazing thing that I managed to avoid it. I have to admit, that saddened me a bit that it was considered such an accomplishment to pull off. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890/9 "2011-08-11T14:11:17Z")
I’ve never been pregnant. I am staunchly pro-choice, but I don’t think I could personally have an abortion. I don’t think it’s something I would have ever chosen. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890/10 "2011-08-11T14:14:51Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I really can’t answer the poll with those options. I WOULD have obtained an abortion, if they were legal when/where I was pregnant and needed one. Oh, so you mean the answer is no? There’s a handy option just for you! ---
**Author:** ![JoThrive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@JoThrive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoThrive)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890/11 "2011-08-11T15:38:21Z")
Nope! Never even considered it. It’s not something I would ever do. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890/12 "2011-08-11T16:54:02Z")
Yep I was fifteen and I’ve never regretted the decision. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890/13 "2011-08-11T17:06:16Z")
No, of course not. Considering how strongly pro-life I am, having an abortion would be appalling hypocritical. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890/14 "2011-08-11T17:18:16Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Oh, so you mean the answer is no? There’s a handy option just for you! I think that the OP is operating under the assumption that abortions were available for everyone who wanted one. I wanted one, but they weren’t available when I needed them. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890/15 "2011-08-11T17:27:08Z")
No, I’m after the pure facts here. Only thing this poll is asking is whether you had an abortion (or two, or three) or not. Not whether you would have or could have, although it’s certainly interesting to hear about. Anyway ‘available’ is a nebulous concept. Abortion has always been an option; it just hasn’t always been a reliable, legal, safe, surgical procedure. Two of my aunts had illegal ‘back alley’ abortions in the 60s. One almost died from the subsequent infection (the man who performed her abortion was not a medical doctor). My grandmother told me that she self-induced an abortion by drinking an abortifacient a woman she knew prepared for her (no idea what it was) - this was in the 40s. ---
**Author:** ![Giltathriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b38774/32.png) [@Giltathriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giltathriel)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890/16 "2011-08-11T18:04:07Z")
Never been pregnant. I don’t think I would, though I guess I can’t know that unless I get pregnant by mistake. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890/17 "2011-08-11T18:13:59Z")
Firmly pro-choice, pregnant as a teen, and much to the surprise of everyone, chose to carry to term and raise the child. Duh. It’s pro-CHOICE, not pro-abortion. I made my choice. Today, were I to get pregnant, it would not be medically safe to carry to term, so I would terminate immediately. Honestly, I’m done with the baby thing anyhow, so even if there weren’t a medical issue, I’d abort. I don’t want any more kids than the two I have, and I wouldn’t feel ethically responsible if I had a little white baby pushing ahead of the queue of little brown babies who already desperately need adoptive families. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890/18 "2011-08-11T18:14:07Z")
Pregnant twice, both times 100% planned and on purpose. One early miscarriage, one still going 30 weeks in. I used a lot of birth control, condoms, and brains and in 10 years of sexual activity only had a couple occasions where I worried I may have made a mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890/19 "2011-08-11T19:43:04Z")
No, I haven’t because I haven’t needed to. I would have, and I would right now if I got pregnant. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890/20 "2011-08-12T15:19:37Z")
I didn’t want to, but carrying the baby would’ve almost certainly been fatal. I didn’t consider leaving my children and husband behind an acceptable option. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-of-the-sdmb-have-you-ever-had-an-abortion/591890.md?page=2)