#1in3

about 4 weeks ago I finally called a helpline number and talked about what had happened to me. It seemed to surreal at first, it wasn’t until the crisis worker said to me ‘you were the child in that situation, he was the adult and should have known better; this happened to you’ that I had even fully accepted it. I didn’t ever want to be a statistic, but given that it is 1 in 3 women worldwide, its not like it would be unlikely. 

I’ve been waiting for counselling from a specialist centre and my first appointment is next week. I’m not sure how I feel about it to be honest.. I wonder if I’m taking up a valuable slot over something that happened to me a long time ago when it should go to someone who has been through something more recently. Does that make me a bad person, considering sometimes I wonder if I dreamt it?

Did you know that 1 in 3 women will have an abortion in her lifetime? Oh, and here’s a list of a few women you may know of who’s had an abortion: 

Chelsea Handler

Rita Hayworth

Frida Kahlo

Vanessa Williams

Nicki Minaj

Debbie Reynolds

Lucille Ball

Alice Walker

Marilyn Monroe

Woopi Goldberg

Jenelle Evans

Madonna

Ani DiFranco

Anne Sexton

Judy Garland

Wendy Davis

Lana Turner

Toni Braxton

Penny Marshall

Naya Rivera

Margaret Cho

Billie Jean King

Bess Armstrong

Margot Kidder 

Lil Kim

Sherri Shepherd

Kathleen Hanna

Sinead O’Connor

Sharon Osborne

Jemima Kirke

Traci Lords

Gloria Steinhem

Stevie Nicks

Kailyn Lowry

“Yesterday I was pregnant and now I’m not. And I’d like to talk about it. There’s so many things I wanna do in high school and being a mom is not one of them. It might not be everyone’s choice, but it was mine. And I’m not ashamed.” This is how sixteen-year old Lola Pacini describes her abortion to the world, boldly recording her thoughts on her experience and uploading the video online for all to see.

Seeing that Lola has no one else to accompany her to the clinic, Yael unexpectedly offers to go with her. The two take an Uber to a women’s clinic during their lunch period, where Lola meets with a nurse who quickly lays down the facts about abortion. True to reality, the nurse explains that the procedure takes about five minutes, that there’s very little risk involved and that Lola will still be able to have kids in the future should she choose to—refuting a myth commonly promoted by anti-abortion groups that abortion causes infertility.

This is where the episode really becomes ground-breaking. At this point, most shows would either show the character changing her mind last minute or cut to a later scene. Instead, Next Class does something revolutionary: They actually take the audience into the procedure room with Lola. We are there with her every step of the way as the doctor walks her through the process, from the IV sedation to explaining what an aspirator does. While abortions themselves are rare on television, it’s practically unheard of to show the actual procedure like this.

And that’s it. There’s no tears, no last-minute change of heart, no traumatic aftermath. Instead, Lola simply returns to school to finish her history project, go out for ice cream and joke with her friends about hair problems. To put it simply, she returns to her normal 16-year old life.

Not only does Lola go through with her abortion, but she’s not haunted by her choice either. Instead, she feels empowered to speak out about her decision. Not wanting to treat her abortion like a shameful secret, Lola allows Yael to film her speaking about her experience and upload the video online for her classmates—and the world—to see. “It wasn’t difficult for me,” Lola says of the abortion. “Scary, yeah—but not difficult. And afterwards, I didn’t feel sad.”

In the procedure room scene, Lola asks the doctor if she’s the first sixteen-year old he’s ever “done this to.” With a small, but caring smile, he replies, “you’re not the first today.” If this episode made even one young girl feel less alone, then Next Class did its job.”

TBT: “You’ll never be alone.” - Jae S.

Jae shares her story of obtaining abortions while raising her children. In the United States, about 61% of abortions are obtained by women who have one or more children.

New Story: “Stigma silences people and it shuts them up.” - Elizabeth C.

Elizabeth shares the abortion experiences she's had at different times in her life.