In The Market column by Eve Tawfick

The Roe v Wade crisis in America is causing shock waves worldwide. Women of every colour and creed are outraged at the reversal of a progressive law to an archaic half a century old doctrine that is steeped in faux religious moralism.

How can men, who by and large are 50 per cent responsible for every pregnancy, decide that laws on termination should be reduced and in some states banned, even in the case of rape or incest?

Men who refuse to wear condoms, will now happily walk away from their parental responsibility in the full knowledge they are bringing a woman financially to her knees. In a worldwide economic crisis in a country where currently baby formula is harder to come by than firearms.

Last week, I stood with councillor Jo Rust and a group of women and men, outside the town hall and openly admitted I had an abortion. Over a megaphone. A few people supping coffee at nearby cafés heard me, and it was met with a weak applause.

However again I will explain why at 25, it was one of the best decisions I ever made. Not only has it allowed me to care and invest in the two children I already have, I cannot imagine how I would navigate being a mother of three at 25 in a financial or emotional sense.

The man who was the father promised to “support me” if I had the child. But as he had no job and I had nil expectation of him getting one, that was rather meaningless.

As I went to the clinic I didn’t know how I was meant to feel. Yes there was a sense of loss and sadness, but in my heart I knew I was making the best choice for my existing children’s future. There was a young girl sitting on the floor, sharing headphones with her boyfriend - like she was waiting for a nail appointment not an abortion. Was I meant to be so nonchalant? I felt like crying.

The man is long gone, in fact he said he “didn’t want to be with a woman with children as it would prevent him from doing things like sitting on a beach in Malta all day” almost six months after he said he would support me, I guess realism came knocking. I’m pretty sure he spends his days playing world of Warcraft and I have a Caribbean trip booked for this year, but alas there’s no cure for short sightedness.

Abortion saved me from a depressing, toxic situation that would have left me destitute. I’m proud to say I’m part of a nation that has given me that right and privilege. I wish American women the same. The absurdity of the law change is as absurd as a law in California thay states “Animals are banned from mating publicly within 1,500 feet of a tavern, school, or place of worship”

My children have a wonderful life now. And all due to the choices I’ve made.

Yes hard ones, but they are our right. I am pro life - mine.