Hi, My Name Is Noel.

Hi. I'm Noel and I had a medication abortion in Minnesota in 2017 and 2019.

I found out I was pregnant when it felt like I was getting my period but my period never came, and my first thought was panic, and that I wasn’t ready and couldn’t afford a child. I decided to have a medication abortion because in 2017, I was in my last year of college getting my master’s degree. I was in a low-paying job and was getting the degree so I could advance in my career and get something better. I was married at the time and still am. My husband has no college education and we heavily rely on my income to live. I found out I accidentally got pregnant and my due date would have been just before the finals of my last college semester. I knew this would delay my degree significantly, if I could even go back and finish it. I also knew that it would greatly delay advancing in my career to provide money for my husband and I to get out of our severe debts. I went and got the abortion pill and never regretted it. I then got pregnant a second time almost two years later. I had my degree and got a better paying job at this point. We were still in severe debt. This time around I told my husband I was pregnant and he panicked. He was not ready and I knew if I had a kid, not only would I be the sole financial earner to keep us afloat, I still wasn’t making enough to afford daycare. Plus I would have to take on all of the mental and emotional load for this pregnancy. I told my husband I would get an abortion and he was relieved. Since my two abortions, I’ve greatly advanced in my career, and we’ve paid off a lot of our debt but still have more to go. We’ve also had two kids since and can just scrape by with childcare costs and not feel like we can’t afford necessities. We are in a better position than before, but will have a ways to go. I don’t regret doing it, either. If we had kids at that time, we would have been at risk of losing our house and probably getting a divorce. My husband would have had to quit his job to stay at home full time and our insurance costs would have been way higher due to him not working. I don’t regret it. My husband has since been snipped and that is our birth control. Birth control caused me such horrible mood swings that I had to be on anti-anxiety and depression drugs. I no longer have to be on so many drugs.

I received my abortion pills through an organization.

From start to finish, the process was easy, private, and a relief. I took the pills at home, and I felt the worst cramping I’ve ever experienced. Giving birth was worse, but this was worse than my normal periods. The second time around I knew what to expect and so it wasn’t as bad. I thought it was going to be more like a normal period, but this was a worse period. What surprised me most was how quick everything was. They forced ultrasounds on me which I didn’t like. But I hadn’t had to go to multiple appointments. Just the one.

Because I had access to medication abortion, I was able to keep getting myself and my husband out of debt and a better position in life to actually have kids that are well adjusted. I felt like I was in control of my own decisions. No one was forcing me to give birth when I wasn’t ready.

I'm sharing my story because no one should feel guilty if they’re not ready. People should have a choice even if they weren’t raped, the fetus isn’t deformed, etc. It is normal to have that choice and no one should force their poor and wrong interpretation of their personal religion on anyone else.

Medication abortion is normal.