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(U-WIRE) CHICO, Calif. -- In 1973, Roe v. Wade legalized surgical abortions in the United States. Yet, for some of the women who got them, the stigma attached to their choice is still as archaic as the laws that banned abortion 34 years ago.
Some women who have had abortions are speaking out about their choice in the effort to remove the stigma that keeps others silent.
For Lucy Yanow, a Cal State-Chico senior majoring in French and women's studies, the choice to have an abortion at 18 was the "easiest hard decision" she ever made, she said.
"It's scary, not because of the procedure itself, but because you don't know how people are going to accept you," she said.
Yanow, now 22, had more than one sexual partner at the time and was still getting used to being a college student, she said.
"I'm an upper-middle-class woman who has a good education, and I acted like a moron my first year of college," she said. "I was ashamed. I had f----- up."
Before the pregnancy, Yanow never thought she would choose an abortion, she said.
"In high school. I thought, 'I totally believe everyone has the right to choose, but I don't know if I can make that choice,'" she said.
Although Yanow said it was an easy decision, she admits to being upset and "pretty freaked out" before the procedure.
"I'm a believer in human rights and that everyone deserves to live in decency," she said. "The fact that I made a choice, and because of my actions someone didn't live, that's weird."
But Yanow also thinks people have the right to make their lives what they want them to be. After the abortion, she was not regretful but relieved.
"My pursuit of happiness did not include having a child," she said. "It was the right thing for my life."
While Yanow was confident about her choice, and despite the fact that she grew up in a family that supports abortion rights, she said it took her about a year before she talked about her experience.
It wasn't until she began working as an advocate at Women's Health Specialists that she became comfortable talking about her own abortion, she said.
"It made me more aware that I shouldn't feel stigmatized," Yanow said.
"If I'm willing to be open and say, 'Yeah, I've had an abortion,' at least two or three people will come out and say, 'Yeah, me too,'" Yanow said. "That's really powerful."
Nell Adams was two years older than Yanow when Adams had her first abortion. The 30-year-old health worker at Women's Health Specialists was 20 and working at the clinic when she found out she was pregnant.
Because of her lifestyle and her "personal habits," at the time, Adams knew she wanted to have an abortion, she said.
"I had multiple roommates, and the guy wasn't my life partner," Adams said.
She had been talking women through their abortions at the clinic for the past six months, so Adams knew what to expect of the procedure. However, she was nervous about what she would feel, Adams said.
Two months after her abortion, Adams started hemorrhaging because of a blood clot or tissue from the pregnancy.
To fix the problem, she had a reaspiration, which is similar to an abortion.
"It's smaller instruments and quicker suction," Adams said.
Complications such as Adams' are not common and are rarely serious. One in every 100,000 abortions results in death, according to a brochure from Planned Parenthood. In the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, an abortion is seven times safer than childbirth.
Adams has had four abortions. In each case, she knew who got her pregnant, and they were with her when she had the abortions.
"They didn't want to have kids with me either," Adams said of her partners. "Now being friends with them, it's like 'Whoa, that would've been a ride.'"
She admits to thinking about having the children but does not have any regrets, she said.
"I think there's a hormone in your body (when you're pregnant) that makes you fantasize about it," she said.
Adams now has a 1-year-old son.
"My mom was way more excited with my decision to have a child, but they're both very supportive," she said.
Christina Comfort did not have the same acceptance that Adams did when she experienced her first pregnancy.
Comfort was raped at 15 and had her first abortion as a result. She was scared but received unexpected support from her mother, who told Comfort about the abortion that she had.
"We don't talk about it now," Comfort said, joking that her mother considers it "their little secret."
Her father, however, didn't approve of the decision, and as she's grown, Comfort's opinions and beliefs have continued to differ from her dad's, she said.
"My dad and I don't speak," Comfort said. "He thinks it's wrong for women to be promiscuous or have sex outside of marriage. We are too different to have a relationship."
Comfort is the clinic administrator at Women's Health Specialists and oversees the medical services for all eight sites.
About 30 percent of women who come to the clinic for abortions are between the ages of 18 and 25, Comfort said.
"Most women who have an abortion here leave feeling relieved and happy," she said. "They didn't know what they were going to do."
Comfort has had eight abortions and has given birth to three children, ages 17, 11 and 2.
"If I had the resources, I'd have more kids," Comfort said.
Her choice to have abortions have been due to different circumstances, but the common thread was that she was not ready for a child, Comfort said. Statistically, abortion is a suitable alternative to carrying out the pregnancy, she said.
"It's like .001 percent (risk) to have any sort of complication," Comfort said. "It's safe and acceptable to have an abortion."
Referring to it as "abortion," rather than as a "procedure" or "termination," is important, she said. Women can be put at harm because of stigmas attached to the other terms and because they don't want to go to a clinic.
"It doesn't matter where you are or how you got there," Comfort said. "You can have an abortion with dignity and be validated."
James C. Canfield, who stands on Humboldt Road and Highway 32 on Saturdays with graphic pictures of aborted fetuses, disagrees with Comfort.
"The general populous is in total denial about this," he said.
The women Canfield knows who have had abortions said it was a horrible experience, and that abortions leave long-lasting psychological effects, he said.
Comfort does not deny that some women have a difficult time dealing with their decision, but added that in most of those cases, other things surrounding the women's lives cause the trauma.
"As someone who has worked in an abortion clinic for almost 10 years, I can tell you that's not the case," she said. "Nine out of 10 women are relieved and happy when they leave."
Comfort said patients who are clearly upset are counseled beforehand. In addition, the clinic provides resources for support afterward. But many women have no regrets.
"That's why women are putting their names out there," she said, "because they want people to know that abortion is needed and we're unashamed."
(C) 2006 The Orion via U-WIRE
