Day One, a series of excerpts from Without Apology that describe the first attempt at telling the truth about abortion in Canada.
But I Kept All These Things, and Pondered Them in My Heart
I took my third pregnancy test at a clinic. While Jon and I waited for the results, I visualized the word PLEASE. When it looked as bold as I could make it, my mind gave it a shove and the entreaty drifted out into the ether. I hoped it would catch the eye of a merciful deity, one who had perhaps been off-duty before but who would now take hold of the situation and reduce it to a false alarm.
Jon sat with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, his head tilted back against the wall. We did not speak, but the jittering of his boot on the dull floor tiles told me exactly how he felt.
After a time, the clinician came in, closed the door behind her, and sat down at the desk. Laying out a file, she quickly scanned its contents before looking up at us. Then she said, “The results are positive.”
An excerpt from Jess Woolford’s chapter in Without Apology: Writings on Abortion in Canada, edited by Shannon Stettner.
