This story from Polly Vernon is part of a longer article titled 11 Powerful Women Who Have Spoken Out About Their Own Abortion published in Elle.

In her book 'Hot Feminist' Polly Vernon talked eloquently about her three abortions:

"I've had three abortions. Yeah, you read right. Three. I am railing against the thought that I have to explain that "three" away, I mean, with any line other than: Because shit happens, and because no one ever asked a man to explain the part he played in an unwanted pregnancy (or three).

"Yet I feel as if I do have to explain, because I can see that three abortions seems like a lot."

"So. Here we go: I could never take the Pill (makes me sad and a bit sick), so I stopped trying; had a fling with a man who one night (while I was too tipsy to adequately monitor the situation) claimed he'd used a condom when he hadn't (abortion one); had a toxic relationship with a controlling individual who expressed his contempt for women in general and me in particular by refusing to wear condoms, and I was too vulnerable and enthralled to protest (abortion two); and then just messed up with someone completely lovely, because that happens, too (abortion three)."

Three messy, silly scenarios; but then, messy, silly scenarios are often all that lie behind unwanted pregnancies."