RANDO | TENSION

Pregnant and Hopeless

The Intended Consequence of DeSantis’ Abortion Policy

My submission to Agency Magazine’s Rando #28. As soon as she walked in, she felt the tension.

Maggie had been walking around the neighborhood for two hours, thinking furiously. “What the fuck am I going to do?”, she wondered. She knew that having a child at 18 was not smart. She was still in high school. What chance would she have to make a life for herself if she was unmarried and tied down with a baby? She had plans to go to college after she graduated in a few weeks. Get a degree. Make a career for herself.

But an abortion was problematic. It was Florida, that shithead DeSantis had made Florida one of the most regressive states in the country for abortions. Six weeks from your last period, and minimal allowance for rape or incest. And she was sure she was more than six weeks gone, it took her a while to realize she was late. How could she afford to go out of state? Would the abortion pill still work? And of course, her Catholic mother would disapprove. But her mother’s disapproval, she could deal with.

Finally, she entered the house, hoping to sneak into her bedroom. But as soon as she walked in, she felt the tension.