To the editor:

I would like to voice my opinion on the current abortion arguments making news recently. My feelings come from my experience as a woman who birthed three daughters and a son; while having a miscarriage between the second and third. I also grew up in a single-parent family. A friend asked, when I told her about my fourth pregnancy, if I’d considered having an abortion. I was surprised because, though four children seemed daunting, I had not considered the alternative. I love my children and was lucky to have their presence, and involved, father, who had an adequate income and would be able to provide for us. I was also physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy.

I strongly feel that every woman should have the legal choice to continue an unexpected pregnancy or to end it within the first three months. She is the one who knows whether, or not, she can, and is willing, to cope with an unexpected pregnancy, birth, raising, and support of the child. Not everyone has good health, a loving and supportive father-to-be, the financial means to support a family, and the list goes on. She may have children already and another pregnancy would possibly kill her, leaving her present children motherless. No one needs to know what reasons her decision is based on. Pregnancy and childbirth took a physical toll on my body. Things don’t function as well as they did pre-family and that will never improve.

I chose. I have no regrets. I don’t think most women use abortion as a form of ‘birth control’, as long as birth control is available. Having an abortion is a heart wrenching decision. The woman should have the choice and that choice should be accepted.

Deb Egeland

New Ulm