America's Great Abortion Scandal

Having a termination isn’t illegal in the US. But with Donald Trump now in power, many fear that’s about to change. Cosmopolitan investigates the alarming backslide on reproductive rights that has a growing number of women taking matters into their own hands…

- Robin Marty 

She was exhausted and nauseous, her breasts aching at even the slightest jostle. With a few years as a sexual health educator under her belt from her college days, Kelly Lane* looked down at the little white stick to confirm what she already knew. 

Kelly also knew she was not interested in having a child. She was 25 years old, unemployed, and about to move in with her family, because she could no longer afford to pay her own rent. Parenting, even if she wanted to, would be impossible. 

Determined to quietly end the pregnancy without telling anyone, she called her local sexual healthcare clinic, Planned Parenthood. Located in Jacksonville, Florida, it’s in one of the many conservative states in the US, where abortion clinics are rapidly closing. The woman who answered the call was sympathetic, but couldn’t help. They didn’t do abortions, she said. Not all of them do. 

Panicking, Kelly shakily dialled the number for a private clinic Planned Parenthood had suggested. They could see her, but the procedure would cost $500. She hung up, and cried for the second time that day.

A few hours later, her face dry, she took a deep breath and pulled her laptop towards her. If the doctors couldn’t help her, she would have to help herself…