In 1963, my world turned upside down. I got pregnant. I was barely 18 years old, just graduated from high school and on my way to college. My long-term high school boyfriend was just starting his sophomore year of college that fall. He was the first of his family to attend college. His parents worked so hard and were so proud of him. He planned to be a lawyer.

Now the plans were changing.

We decided to get married. He would quit school, get a job helping his father on his soft drink route and we’d somehow manage. The thought of being a mother plunged me into deep depression and despair. I could barely take care of myself – how could I take care of a baby? His family was nice, but I could see their hearts were broken.

I had imagined that a pregnancy would be met with excitement and plans for a new family and future. It’s supposed to be a happy time. But it wasn’t. We were children ourselves.

I considered the two options available to me: start a family at 18 or continue the pregnancy in secret and find a place for adoption. I couldn’t do it. I knew I’d be haunted the rest of my life. Abortion was illegal. I didn’t think it was an option. I decided I would just kill myself and end the shame for everyone.

But there was a secret network I knew nothing about. My mother, pretending she was the pregnant one, found a man in a small town in Pennsylvania who performed abortions. He was a doctor whose daughter had died from an illegal abortion. He started providing them to save other girls from the same fate.

I was lucky. I lived. I was able to go to college, start a career and start a family when I was ready.

Ten years later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that the Constitution protects every woman’s right to make her own personal medical decisions about abortion. But that hasn’t stopped politicians from trying to interfere.

Today, abortion rates are at an all time low since they were made legal – thanks in large part to improved access to health care providers like Planned Parenthood and expanded coverage for women thanks to ObamaCare. We see what it means to expand access to preventive care and birth control: Women are healthier and better able to have control over their lives, their families and their future.

But that hasn’t stopped a minority of politicians who will stop at nothing to make abortion impossible for many women. Look at the past five years: States have added an average of 57 new restrictions a year. In Maine, we’ve fought back many of them. We protected Maine’s adult involvement law and defeated a Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers proposal that would have placed unnecessary restrictions on health centers that provide abortions.

Last June’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt was an enormous win for women, making it clear that politicians cannot pass laws to block access to safe, legal abortion. But we must remain vigilant. A person’s right to make their own decisions about abortion shouldn’t depend on who they are or where they live.

The decision about whether to parent, end a pregnancy or choose adoption belongs to the individual woman, and politicians who are deeply disconnected from women’s lives shouldn’t be able to subvert that decision.

There are many myths and misperceptions about abortion and those who have abortions, which is surprising since about one in three American women will decide to end a pregnancy. Some of their stories may be similar to mine. Some may be very different. But no matter the story, every individual’s decision about their pregnancy should be respected and valued.

And in order to ensure abortion remains safe and legal for future generations, we must replace misinformation with facts and have honest conversations about abortion in America today.

That’s why I’m sharing my story.

The battle continues, and I will not stop fighting. We cannot allow a handful of politicians take us backward.

Today I have a wonderful daughter and two young granddaughters. I do not want them, or any other woman, to ever have to go through what happened to me.

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