Woody's Story
A typical beginning and an almost tragic ending, it was 1967 and Woody got pregnant thinking her boyfriend would marry her. Of course, that didn't happen. She was only 21 and had lost her mother a year or two before. Her father had recently remarried and Woody did not know her new stepmother or stepsisters very well. She desperately needed to tell her father, but didn't want to shame him in front of his new family so she kept her bad news to herself.
Not only did her boyfriend not marry her, he did not even help her find a reliable person to perform the abortion or contribute any help for the event. Woody got a name from an "experienced" girl at the office and made all the arrangements herself. She met the abortionist at a cheap motel and before performing the abortion he suggested they "get it on" seeing how she was already pregnant.
Woody was sickened by the suggestion and, thank God, the abortionist left her alone. After the abortion Woody returned to her apartment, alone. Sometime later, she started bleeding severely. She managed to contact a neighbor who got her to a hostpital. Fortunately, she survived.
No woman should ever have to be subjected to the kind of personal anguish and indignity that Woody suffered. Clean, professional abortion clinics should be available for all women who seek such help.
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