This article references abortion and baby loss.

Last week, many breathed a sigh of relief after a historic legal change to Victorian-era abortion laws in England and Wales, which were some of the strictest in the world, was finally voted through the House of Commons.

Two Labour MPs, Tonia Antoniazzi and Stella Creasy, tabled rival amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill. Antoniazzi’s amendment to remove “the threat of investigation, arrest, prosecution, or imprisonment” of any woman who acts in relation to her own pregnancy was voted overwhelmingly in favour, 379 to 137.

Now, 58 years after The Abortion Act was introduced in 1967, which didn’t decriminalise abortion, but simply made it legal in certain circumstances, women across the UK truly have the right to choose, and won’t be penalised for acting in their own and their family’s best interests.

Evelyn* had a medical abortion (also known as the abortion pill) at age 19 after unexpectedly falling pregnant. Had her termination not been deemed necessary by two doctors who “authorised” the procedure, she could have found herself facing prosecution with a maximum penalty of life in prison. Read her story, in her own words, below.

Seven years ago, I was enjoying my final few weeks of the summer before packing up and moving away for my first year of university. In what seemed like a cruel turn of events, it was at one of my university send-off parties that I found out I was pregnant.

My then-boyfriend and I were sexually active at the time, and we were using barrier methods to prevent pregnancy. Suffice it to say, one of the condoms must have failed.

I had gotten my cycle like every other month, although this month was lighter, and I felt different. I couldn’t escape the feeling that something was wrong, so I took a pregnancy test at the party. Two lines showed up almost immediately. I was pregnant.

I was just a teenager whose life entailed juggling a part-time job, an unsteady relationship, living at home and partying. I was not ready to be a mum, nor would I have been in the right financial situation, mental headspace or time in my life to step up and be the parent that my child would have deserved.

After telling my best friend and boyfriend, I made arrangements to visit my local walk-in clinic to confirm my pregnancy wasn’t a false positive. It wasn’t, and one of the lovely NHS nurses talked through my options. I told her I wanted an abortion, though it was not an easy decision to come to, and she gave me the number for Marie Stopes (which is now known as MSI Reproductive Choices).

I had opted for a medical termination, and my first appointment entailed an ultrasound to work out how far along I was. I was six weeks gestation, which meant I was within the 10-week limit to have the medication abortion.