\u201cTelling my mother isn\u2019t an option at all. Not now. Not when I turn eighteen. Not ever.\u201d<\/h2>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn-lblif.nitrocdn.com\/dGudqkMNFXTXrXjkpgPQKThunaLAxBAM\/assets\/images\/optimized\/rev-40d4f93\/msmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2158550146.jpg\")
An abortion-rights rally on the second anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade<\/em>, in West Palm Beach, Fla., on June 24, 2024. (Marco Bello \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nI first learned about the overturning of Roe v. Wade<\/em> in June of 2022 while on the phone with a good friend shortly after the news broke. At the time, I lived in New York, a state with favorable access to abortion, and my friend lived in Georgia, a state with a six-week abortion ban. That day felt like a true reversal of time\u2014a direct threat to access to healthcare, and yet another way for our country to deny an individual the right to make choices that are best for our bodies.<\/p>\nNow, in the year 2025, the right to choose is still under attack. It is my hope that years from now, we\u2019ll have progressed as a country when it comes to reproductive autonomy and destigmatizing abortion care. I hope that years from now, a student picks up this book and reads about the challenges that the book\u2019s main character Truth Bangura faces and goes, \u201cIs that really how it was back then?\u201d<\/p>\n
Truth Is<\/a><\/em> is a pro-choice novel in every sense of the phrase. Truth\u2019s choice to move forward with an abortion is made early on in the novel and the majority of the book focuses on her life and her choices after her decision. For adults who engage with Truth\u2019s story, I want us to consider the limitations we sometimes unknowingly put on young people. I want us to consider the heights young people could reach if they were granted opportunities and community support, the way Truth ultimately does in the novel.<\/p>\nFor young people who read Truth Is<\/em>, it is important to me that you know, like Truth\u2019s poetry, life is filled with many deliberate choices and a whole lot of revision. A lot of questions, and heartbreak. But a lot of gain and victories too. You have the power to make new decisions every day and can always choose to revise and write a new story. If you find yourself wrestling with some of the doubts Truth does, many of which I wrestled with as a high school student, I want you to know that I believe in you, and I believe your future is bright.<\/p>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn-lblif.nitrocdn.com\/dGudqkMNFXTXrXjkpgPQKThunaLAxBAM\/assets\/images\/optimized\/rev-40d4f93\/msmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/9781419776830_s3-683x1024.jpg\")
Truth Is: A Novel in Verse<\/em> by\u00a0Hannah V. Sawyerr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nEditor\u2019s note<\/strong>:\u00a0At-home abortions via medication abortion<\/a>\u00a0are legal, safe and available in all 50 states. The organization Plan C has a comprehensive guide to finding abortion pills\u00a0on their website<\/a>, which is continually updated and has all the latest information on where to find abortion pills from anywhere in the U.S.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nThe following is an excerpt, written in verse, from Hannah V. Sawyerr\u2019s novel <\/strong><\/em>Truth Is<\/strong><\/a>, a finalist for the 2025 National Book Award for Young People\u2019s Literature<\/strong><\/strong><\/em>,<\/em><\/strong> published Sept. 23, 2025. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
\nGoogle Search History\u2014October 12<\/h2>\n
how much does giving birth cost<\/p>\n
how much does giving birth hurt<\/p>\n
what is the adoption process<\/p>\n
how much is an abortion without using your parent\u2019s insurance<\/p>\n
what exactly is Roe v Wade<\/p>\n
why did they overturn Roe v Wade<\/p>\n
how to make an appointment at the clinic without your mom<\/p>\n
how to make an appointment at the clinic without your mom\u2019s permission<\/p>\n
how to make an appointment at the clinic without your mom\u2019s permission pregnant<\/p>\n
clinics near me\u00a0<\/p>\n
clinics near me Philadelphia, Pennsylvania<\/p>\n
\nWhat Sex Ed Taught Me<\/h2>\n
Sex ed was taught by my ninth-grade gym teacher\u2014<\/p>\n
a sixty-year-old white man\u00a0<\/p>\n
who got visibly uncomfortable saying the words<\/p>\n
penis<\/em> or vagina.<\/em><\/p>\nBut if it weren\u2019t for sex ed<\/p>\n
I wouldn\u2019t know a lot of clinics are free or low cost<\/p>\n
& confidential too.<\/p>\n
I called six clinics in Philly<\/p>\n
& only one of them had an opening to see me today\u2014<\/p>\n
45 minutes away from home by bus.<\/p>\n
\nWhat Sex Ed Didn\u2019t Teach Me<\/h2>\n
Too bad sex ed didn\u2019t teach about\u00a0<\/p>\n
the number of anti-abortion protestors<\/p>\n
camped out the building\u2014<\/p>\n
With signs that say shit like:<\/p>\n
STOP ABORTION NOW<\/strong><\/p>\nLET GOD PLAN PARENTHOOD<\/strong><\/p>\n&<\/p>\n
REAL WOMEN PROTECT BABIES<\/strong><\/p>\nAs if planned parenthood is only for women.<\/p>\n
As if planned parenthood is only for abortions.<\/p>\n
As if it\u2019s any of their business even if it was.<\/p>\n
\nAlmost Missed It<\/h2>\n
I walk into the clinic<\/p>\n
walk past the protestor who steps too close to me<\/p>\n
reject the flyer in her hand & the bullshit out her mouth<\/p>\n
pay her and every protestor<\/p>\n
none of the attention they beg for.<\/p>\n
The clinic is tucked away on the corner of the block<\/p>\n
& if it weren\u2019t for all the no life protestors camped outside<\/p>\n
you might just miss it. I reach for my phone<\/p>\n
begin texting Zariah like you wouldn\u2019t believe this shit<\/em><\/p>\nand put my phone right back in my pocket<\/p>\n
when I remember she doesn\u2019t know I\u2019m here.<\/p>\n
She and I never talk about any options\u00a0<\/p>\n
other than what she assumes <\/em>I\u2019ll choose<\/p>\nZariah\u2019s always talking about babies being blessings<\/em><\/p>\nIn her mind I only have one option\u2014<\/p>\n
but my Google search history,<\/p>\n
the abortion brochure in the waiting room\u2014<\/p>\n
and my heart\u2014tell me otherwise.<\/p>\n
\nI Sign in at the Front Desk<\/h2>\n
The first time signing in without my mother at any medical facility.<\/p>\n
Take my seat next to a couple holding hands on my left<\/p>\n
& what looks like a mother a few years older than me on my right<\/p>\n
I am one of few people here alone<\/p>\n
The mother smiles at me and I smile back<\/p>\n
half sorry for staring<\/em> half thank you for knowing I needed that<\/em><\/p>\nAfter spending half my morning vomiting in secret,<\/p>\n
I almost told my mom until I replayed her comments:<\/p>\n
You didn\u2019t open up your legs for some boy, did you?<\/em><\/p>\nI fill out the intake form\u2014<\/p>\n
& google words on my phone<\/p>\n
for questions I\u2019m too embarrassed to admit I don\u2019t fully understand<\/p>\n
I almost finish when I reread the words: Emergency Contact<\/strong><\/p>\nRun through the options I have in my head:<\/p>\n
& choose the option least likely to pick up:<\/p>\n
Emergency Contact:<\/strong> Theodore Clark (Dad)<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019m Called In<\/h2>\n
by a middle-aged, brown-skinned woman<\/p>\n
hair tied back in a tight bun.<\/p>\n
Dr. Cherelle <\/em>she says her name is.<\/p>\nI follow her out of the waiting room<\/p>\n
& she smiles at me<\/p>\n
warm wide & inviting<\/p>\n
& while it may not make my fears disappear<\/p>\n
It feels a lot like someone saying<\/p>\n
Everything will be okay.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nWhat the Nurse Confirms:<\/h2>\n\n- Via pregnancy test: I\u2019m pregnant.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n- Via ultra-sound: I\u2019m nine weeks along.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n- Some states have stricter laws regarding abortions than others\u2014Pennsylvania\u2019s laws aren\u2019t as abortion friendly as others, but they aren\u2019t as extreme as others either.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n- Mifepristone and misoprostol are the names of the medication used for a medication abortion\u2014commonly known as the abortion pill.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n- Since I\u2019m less than eleven weeks along I have the option of taking the abortion pill.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n- The abortion pill on average is several hundred dollars less expensive than an in-clinic abortion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n- The abortion pill becomes less effective the longer you wait to take it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\nFive Hundred<\/h2>\n
Dr. Cherelle tells me,<\/p>\n
without insurance<\/p>\n
a medication abortion<\/p>\n
would cost just about<\/p>\n
five hundred dollars.<\/p>\n
Dr. Cherelle tells me,<\/p>\n
if I move forward,<\/p>\n
a medication abortion would\u00a0<\/p>\n
be my least expensive option &\u00a0<\/p>\n
some orgs help with costs.<\/p>\n
Dr. Cherelle tells me,<\/p>\n
all of these things\u00a0<\/p>\n
are true for seventeen-year-olds<\/p>\n
in the state of Pennsylvania\u2014<\/p>\n
with parental consent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nI Tell Dr. Cherelle<\/h2>\n
waiting until my eighteenth birthday<\/p>\n
would mean a medication abortion<\/p>\n
would no longer be an option for me<\/p>\n
& telling my mother isn\u2019t an option at all\u2014<\/p>\n
Not now. Not when I turn eighteen. Not ever.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Cherelle Finally Says<\/h2>\n
I can choose between the following:<\/p>\n
\n- Get my mother\u2019s consent<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\n- Get a courts approval to bypass <\/em>my mother\u2019s consent<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\n- Wait until my eighteenth birthday<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
But I already know exactly what I want.<\/p>\n
And my choice is:<\/p>\n
\n- None of the above<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\nEditor\u2019s note:<\/strong> In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the longstanding precedents of\u00a0<\/em>Roe v. Wade,\u00a0representing the largest blow to women\u2019s constitutional rights in history. A series from\u00a0<\/em>Ms.,\u00a0Our Abortion Stories<\/a>\u00a0chronicles readers\u2019 experiences of abortion pre- and post-Roe.\u00a0Abortions are sought by a wide range of people for many different reasons. There is no single story. Telling stories of then and now shows how critical abortion has been and continues to be for women and girls.<\/em><\/p>\nThe fall of\u00a0<\/em>Roe\u00a0will continue to strain abortion access nationwide. We cannot, we must not lose the right to safe and accessible abortion or access to birth control. Share your abortion story<\/a>\u00a0by emailing\u00a0myabortionstory@msmagazine.com.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
I first learned about the overturning of Roe v. Wade<\/em> in June of 2022 while on the phone with a good friend shortly after the news broke. At the time, I lived in New York, a state with favorable access to abortion, and my friend lived in Georgia, a state with a six-week abortion ban. That day felt like a true reversal of time\u2014a direct threat to access to healthcare, and yet another way for our country to deny an individual the right to make choices that are best for our bodies.<\/p>\n Now, in the year 2025, the right to choose is still under attack. It is my hope that years from now, we\u2019ll have progressed as a country when it comes to reproductive autonomy and destigmatizing abortion care. I hope that years from now, a student picks up this book and reads about the challenges that the book\u2019s main character Truth Bangura faces and goes, \u201cIs that really how it was back then?\u201d<\/p>\n Truth Is<\/a><\/em> is a pro-choice novel in every sense of the phrase. Truth\u2019s choice to move forward with an abortion is made early on in the novel and the majority of the book focuses on her life and her choices after her decision. For adults who engage with Truth\u2019s story, I want us to consider the limitations we sometimes unknowingly put on young people. I want us to consider the heights young people could reach if they were granted opportunities and community support, the way Truth ultimately does in the novel.<\/p>\n For young people who read Truth Is<\/em>, it is important to me that you know, like Truth\u2019s poetry, life is filled with many deliberate choices and a whole lot of revision. A lot of questions, and heartbreak. But a lot of gain and victories too. You have the power to make new decisions every day and can always choose to revise and write a new story. If you find yourself wrestling with some of the doubts Truth does, many of which I wrestled with as a high school student, I want you to know that I believe in you, and I believe your future is bright.<\/p>\n Editor\u2019s note<\/strong>:\u00a0At-home abortions via medication abortion<\/a>\u00a0are legal, safe and available in all 50 states. The organization Plan C has a comprehensive guide to finding abortion pills\u00a0on their website<\/a>, which is continually updated and has all the latest information on where to find abortion pills from anywhere in the U.S.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The following is an excerpt, written in verse, from Hannah V. Sawyerr\u2019s novel <\/strong><\/em>Truth Is<\/strong><\/a>, a finalist for the 2025 National Book Award for Young People\u2019s Literature<\/strong><\/strong><\/em>,<\/em><\/strong> published Sept. 23, 2025. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n how much does giving birth cost<\/p>\n how much does giving birth hurt<\/p>\n what is the adoption process<\/p>\n how much is an abortion without using your parent\u2019s insurance<\/p>\n what exactly is Roe v Wade<\/p>\n why did they overturn Roe v Wade<\/p>\n how to make an appointment at the clinic without your mom<\/p>\n how to make an appointment at the clinic without your mom\u2019s permission<\/p>\n how to make an appointment at the clinic without your mom\u2019s permission pregnant<\/p>\n clinics near me\u00a0<\/p>\n clinics near me Philadelphia, Pennsylvania<\/p>\n Sex ed was taught by my ninth-grade gym teacher\u2014<\/p>\n a sixty-year-old white man\u00a0<\/p>\n who got visibly uncomfortable saying the words<\/p>\n penis<\/em> or vagina.<\/em><\/p>\n But if it weren\u2019t for sex ed<\/p>\n I wouldn\u2019t know a lot of clinics are free or low cost<\/p>\n & confidential too.<\/p>\n I called six clinics in Philly<\/p>\n & only one of them had an opening to see me today\u2014<\/p>\n 45 minutes away from home by bus.<\/p>\n Too bad sex ed didn\u2019t teach about\u00a0<\/p>\n the number of anti-abortion protestors<\/p>\n camped out the building\u2014<\/p>\n With signs that say shit like:<\/p>\n STOP ABORTION NOW<\/strong><\/p>\n LET GOD PLAN PARENTHOOD<\/strong><\/p>\n &<\/p>\n REAL WOMEN PROTECT BABIES<\/strong><\/p>\n As if planned parenthood is only for women.<\/p>\n As if planned parenthood is only for abortions.<\/p>\n As if it\u2019s any of their business even if it was.<\/p>\n I walk into the clinic<\/p>\n walk past the protestor who steps too close to me<\/p>\n reject the flyer in her hand & the bullshit out her mouth<\/p>\n pay her and every protestor<\/p>\n none of the attention they beg for.<\/p>\n The clinic is tucked away on the corner of the block<\/p>\n & if it weren\u2019t for all the no life protestors camped outside<\/p>\n you might just miss it. I reach for my phone<\/p>\n begin texting Zariah like you wouldn\u2019t believe this shit<\/em><\/p>\n and put my phone right back in my pocket<\/p>\n when I remember she doesn\u2019t know I\u2019m here.<\/p>\n She and I never talk about any options\u00a0<\/p>\n other than what she assumes <\/em>I\u2019ll choose<\/p>\n Zariah\u2019s always talking about babies being blessings<\/em><\/p>\n In her mind I only have one option\u2014<\/p>\n but my Google search history,<\/p>\n the abortion brochure in the waiting room\u2014<\/p>\n and my heart\u2014tell me otherwise.<\/p>\n The first time signing in without my mother at any medical facility.<\/p>\n Take my seat next to a couple holding hands on my left<\/p>\n & what looks like a mother a few years older than me on my right<\/p>\n I am one of few people here alone<\/p>\n The mother smiles at me and I smile back<\/p>\n half sorry for staring<\/em> half thank you for knowing I needed that<\/em><\/p>\n After spending half my morning vomiting in secret,<\/p>\n I almost told my mom until I replayed her comments:<\/p>\n You didn\u2019t open up your legs for some boy, did you?<\/em><\/p>\n I fill out the intake form\u2014<\/p>\n & google words on my phone<\/p>\n for questions I\u2019m too embarrassed to admit I don\u2019t fully understand<\/p>\n I almost finish when I reread the words: Emergency Contact<\/strong><\/p>\n Run through the options I have in my head:<\/p>\n & choose the option least likely to pick up:<\/p>\n Emergency Contact:<\/strong> Theodore Clark (Dad)<\/p>\n by a middle-aged, brown-skinned woman<\/p>\n hair tied back in a tight bun.<\/p>\n Dr. Cherelle <\/em>she says her name is.<\/p>\n I follow her out of the waiting room<\/p>\n & she smiles at me<\/p>\n warm wide & inviting<\/p>\n & while it may not make my fears disappear<\/p>\n It feels a lot like someone saying<\/p>\n Everything will be okay.<\/em><\/p>\n Dr. Cherelle tells me,<\/p>\n without insurance<\/p>\n a medication abortion<\/p>\n would cost just about<\/p>\n five hundred dollars.<\/p>\n Dr. Cherelle tells me,<\/p>\n if I move forward,<\/p>\n a medication abortion would\u00a0<\/p>\n be my least expensive option &\u00a0<\/p>\n some orgs help with costs.<\/p>\n Dr. Cherelle tells me,<\/p>\n all of these things\u00a0<\/p>\n are true for seventeen-year-olds<\/p>\n in the state of Pennsylvania\u2014<\/p>\n with parental consent.\u00a0<\/p>\n waiting until my eighteenth birthday<\/p>\n would mean a medication abortion<\/p>\n would no longer be an option for me<\/p>\n & telling my mother isn\u2019t an option at all\u2014<\/p>\n Not now. Not when I turn eighteen. Not ever.<\/p>\n I can choose between the following:<\/p>\n But I already know exactly what I want.<\/p>\n And my choice is:<\/p>\n Editor\u2019s note:<\/strong> In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the longstanding precedents of\u00a0<\/em>Roe v. Wade,\u00a0representing the largest blow to women\u2019s constitutional rights in history. A series from\u00a0<\/em>Ms.,\u00a0Our Abortion Stories<\/a>\u00a0chronicles readers\u2019 experiences of abortion pre- and post-Roe.\u00a0Abortions are sought by a wide range of people for many different reasons. There is no single story. Telling stories of then and now shows how critical abortion has been and continues to be for women and girls.<\/em><\/p>\n The fall of\u00a0<\/em>Roe\u00a0will continue to strain abortion access nationwide. We cannot, we must not lose the right to safe and accessible abortion or access to birth control. Share your abortion story<\/a>\u00a0by emailing\u00a0myabortionstory@msmagazine.com.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\nGoogle Search History\u2014October 12<\/h2>\n
\nWhat Sex Ed Taught Me<\/h2>\n
\nWhat Sex Ed Didn\u2019t Teach Me<\/h2>\n
\nAlmost Missed It<\/h2>\n
\nI Sign in at the Front Desk<\/h2>\n
\nI\u2019m Called In<\/h2>\n
\nWhat the Nurse Confirms:<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nFive Hundred<\/h2>\n
\nI Tell Dr. Cherelle<\/h2>\n
\nDr. Cherelle Finally Says<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n