JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Editor’s note: The details in this story may be triggering or disturbing for some people. Discretion is advised.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, a Jacksonville woman is again sharing her personal story.
She had an abortion in 1962 — more than a decade before the landmark ruling that gave a constitutional right to abortion. Speaking to News4JAX on a condition of anonymity, she said she believes every woman should have the choice.
She said she was raped at age 17, and she said if she wouldn’t have had the abortion, which at the time was criminalized, her life would’ve forever changed.
When asked her thoughts after learning Roe v. Wade was overturned, the woman said, “total shock.”
“Shock because this has been, what, 50 years to protect women and their rights?” she said. “What gives them the right to take control of my body and my uterus?”
The woman says she fears for the future of women in America. She said she’ll never forget the day she was assaulted — and the moment she went to the doctor and learned she was pregnant.
“I’m sitting on my mother’s lap. Crying,” she said. “I’ll never forget that as long as I live.”
Even though abortions were illegal, her parents offered a choice and helped her find a surgeon perform the procedure secretly on a kitchen table.
When asked if she regrets having the procedure done, “Never in a million years,” she replied.
“I wouldn’t have gone on with my life. I wouldn’t have had the wonderful son I have or married the man I married,” she said.
She said it’s important for everyone to have a choice whether they want to have a baby or not.
“My life would’ve gone a completely different path, and that should never be,” she said. “We should be able to be in control of who we are and the avenue and route we want to take.”
Florida is set to put a new law into effect Friday. It bans the procedure after 15 weeks, which is in the second trimester of pregnancy. The exceptions include if carrying to term could result in serious injury or death for the mother or if the fetus has a fatal abnormality. Rape and incest are not exceptions.