Member-only story
An Abortion Saved My Mother
June, 1973
A young couple was preparing to celebrate summer with their young family. Still in their twenties, the couple had been married for seven years. They had two daughters, one who was four, the other was two. And one baby on the way, due later that year.
To make ends meet during the summer months when paychecks were absent due to the school year break, the husband worked in a welding shop to bring in some income so they could get by. The days were long and hot as he welded steel parts together for shipment on trains to other parts of the country. He found the work tedious, but it didn’t require him to think, so he could let his mind wander as he welded.
While her husband was away, the wife took their young daughters to her parents farm. It gave the girls a chance to explore and play in the outdoors, so that the wife could rest and watch them. This pregnancy was more difficult than the first two. The morning sickness never seemed to end. Exhaustion was prevalent. She had little energy to play with her girls, and could only read to them before needing to lay down and take a nap. Her mother helped look after the girls while her father worked the fields, preparing for the harvest later that summer.
The summer of 1973 was unusually hot. As June turned to July, highs in the 90s became the norm. The young family…