Article by Caitlin Kinnell (she/her)
On Monday 28th November 2016, I discovered I was pregnant at 16. I recall feeling light-headed and overwhelmed. Immediately I contacted my mum and boyfriend to inform them, who fortunately both were kind and supportive. Without any doubt, I knew I wished to have an abortion.
During this time, abortion was still illegal on the Isle of Man due to the Isle of Man Termination of Pregnancy Act 1995. The options I was provided with were adoption or simply having the child. Alternatively, you can seek help off the island in the UK, which I decided to do. I contacted a clinic in Liverpool and booked a private abortion. The flights alone cost £150 and the fee for the procedure was £410. I was still in full-time education and therefore a dependent child, requiring my parents to financially support my abortion. The large cost of the abortion made overnight accommodation unaffordable, leaving me no option but to book a return flight.
When I arrived at the clinic I filled out medical forms and was assessed by a nurse to establish my reason/s for abortion and to ensure it was my choice. An hour later a nurse proceeded with an internal scan and asked which method I wished to receive, and I chose a medical abortion. A medical abortion consists of taking one pill, mifepristone, and then a further four tablets of misoprostol to insert vaginally. I left the abortion clinic at around 3.30 pm for the airport. Unfortunately, my flight was not until 7.45 pm and the abortion began taking place whilst I was at the airport. I experienced severe pain, profuse sweating, and going in and out of consciousness, all whilst in an airport toilet cubicle. My boyfriend alerted the medical team, and I received gas and air. The codeine I was prescribed began to help alleviate the pain and I was deemed medically fit to fly.
Although I managed to access an abortion, my safety was compromised because I had no other option than to travel. Abortion being illegal on the Isle of Man did not stop me from having one, but it made it unsafe for me to do so. Women always have accessed abortions, regardless of their illegality and they always will. When we criminalize abortion, all we do is risk the lives of women.
In the years after I had my abortion, the conversation surrounding abortion grew. With a push towards the legal reform of abortion law, the pro-choice movement was met with a pro-life resistance. Pro-lifers protested in Douglas town center, holding up graphic images of ‘aborted’ fetuses but ultimately, the pro-choice movement won. In 2019, the Isle of Man passed abortions laws more progressive than the UK’s. Women now can receive an abortion without a specified reason during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, and under specified reasons during the 15-24 week period. Counseling is available and there are buffer zones, preventing protests outside of abortion facilities. The bill overall liberated Manx women, providing them with the real autonomy over their bodies they deserve.
The truth is that abortion can be a difficult process. You feel the pregnancy, you feel the abortion but you rest and recover, and my choice has provided me the future I wanted. Accessing an abortion meant that I was able to continue with A-levels, and begin university. Ultimately, I am no longer with my ex-boyfriend. My reality would’ve been co-parenting or single motherhood. The right to choose liberated me of a life I did not wish to live.
I do not regret my choice and I never have. Abortion is integral to women’s rights as it gives women the power to determine their own future.