It's a complex tale. I was born and raised in Spokane, WA. Then I moved and for eight years lived in a small town called Harrisburg. At the time, there was no such thing as teaching kids about contraceptives. It was all about abstain, abstain. I was one of the leaders of a group called STARS. That stands for Students Today Aren't Ready for Sex. No condoms passed out. No education about what could or would happen once you had sex. But of course kids were having sex. One of my friends did get pregnant. She did finish high school, but was pushing around a baby carriage. I was a real math nerd. I didn't have a lot of sexual drive. I had the opinion that if someone got pregnant, it was their choice and their responsibility. And I even debated in a classroom setting that abortion was wrong.

Fast forward, I am 20 and I live in a fire station with five guys and I am a real bad-assed bitch. One night, we have a drinking thing. It is the second time in my life that I've drank. I was raised by strict conservative people without a drink in the home. By drink number two, I'm gone. Later he is on top of me and my body is paralyzed. It took me years to realize that I was drugged. I told my sister what an awful, dirty slut I was. I was slurring, “ No, no, no”, but this 200 lb. guy was on top of me and taking what he wanted. It screwed me up for decades. There are still triggers. I’ve empowered myself a great deal. I've fueled my life a great deal.

But where these rights come in. Here you have a conservative person saying all you have to do is abstain. After my sister encouraged me saying, “You didn't agree to have sex, you were raped,” and after I got over the dissociation and denial, I went to a Rape Crisis center. They gave me the abortion pill. I thought, “Do I take it or not? Oh my God, am I killing a baby that could be the leader of the world? Could save people or be the next Messiah? Do I kill that baby?” In a moment, I swallow that pill. I didn't want anything to do with that growing inside me.