Forty eight years ago Shirley got into a car and drove from Denver to Boston to have an illegal abortion. She already had one child and couldn't afford another mouth to feed. Too poor to fully provide but to proud for government assistance, Shirley decided that one was enough.
After all, wasn't there already too much pain in her world, too much pain in the world? Even if she decided to keep the baby there was a good chance he/she wouldn't survive in the high crime rate area where she resided. Violence was part of her neighborhood ritual and Shirley was often at the epicenter of it. She couldn't bring another life into her world of pain…or that's what she tried to convince herself of anyway.To add insult to psychological injury, this unwanted pregnancy was the accidental result of a short term relationship with a guy she hardly knew. So, instead of shaming herself in front of her strict Baptist parents, she escaped to Boston under the guise of visiting relatives. She would take a life and save her life in the process.
But then a voice for the voiceless intervened.
Shirley's relatives in Boston spoke to her on behalf of the baby in her womb. They encouraged her to go through with the pregnancy with the promise that everything would work out just fine.
Eventually, her parents heard that Shirley was pregnant. They got ahold of her and told her that they would help her raise the baby. They begged her to come back to Denver so that they could be there when he/she was born.
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