Lindsey's Story

I had just turned 16, had just gotten a new car, and had the boyfriend of my dreams, I thought. He was black, I am white, my parents strongly disagreed ... I found out I was pregnant in April, but I was too afraid to tell anyone.

I knew he would be mad, and I knew my mom and dad would not accept it. He was a senior in high school and I was a sophomore. He had been offered a full-ride athletic scholarship, to play football at a university. He did not need a baby.

I finally started getting morning sickness, so my mom found out that I was pregnant. She was furious!! About a week later she told my dad. I really did not know how far along I was, but I knew if I did not hurry time would run out and I would not have a choice to keep the baby or not.

So I went to an abortion clinic, that did abortions up to 16 weeks. They did an ultrasound, I was too far along, I was 19 weeks!!

They gave me a number of a place that did abortions up to 20 weeks, so that is where I went and had it done. The guy left me, but I knew that was coming, my mom and dad treated me like an outcast for a long time.

My dad never spoke a word to me for over 4 months after this happened. It has been 2 years since I had it done, things are better now, once in a while I hear from the guy. My dad, my mom, and me get along really good now. I am a college freshman, majoring in communication disorders.

Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I still had that part of me, that I named Shaley Jayden??

"Racism: The belief in the inherent superiority of one race over all others and thereby the right to dominance.
Sexism: The belief in the inherent superiority of one sex and thereby the right to dominance.
Heterosexism: The belief in the inherent superiority of one pattern of loving and thereby its right to dominance.
Homophobia: The fear of feelings of love for members of one's own sex and therefore the hatred of those feelings in others.
The above forms of human blindness stem from the same root - the inability to recognize or tolerate the notion of difference as a beneficial and dynamic human force, and one which is enriching rather than threatening to the defined self."
- by Audre Lorde in 1978