My unthinkable abortion: St.Catharines Reg. Councillor goes public and sends letter to Oosterhoff

A St.Catharines Regional Councillor has gone public about her abortion after Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff declared he wants to make abortion "unthinkable."

Laura Ip sending a letter to the PC MPP on Twitter.

Ip details why she decided to have an abortion using the hash tag #MyUnthinkableAbortion.

The mother of two shares personal details of her decision to go through with the medical procedure in Toronto after finding out that only two doctors performed abortions in Niagara and you had to stay in hospital overnight.

Ip says it was the most difficult decision she has even had to make and she called out Oosterhoff saying it's unthinkable that he would rather see women die than have access to safe, legal abortions.

Here are some of the tweets sent to Oosterhoff.

Dear @samoosterhoff, my abortion *was* unthinkable.

I was married, had two children, had miscarried my third, and it was unthinkable that we could add another child to our family.

It was unthinkable that my birth control had failed.

It was unthinkable that I would risk my health again.

It was unthinkable that I would risk the physical, social, and financial health of my two children.

It was unthinkable that I would risk my son having night terrors again, because he witnessed how sick I was with his sister.

It was unthinkable that I would have to stay in a marriage that was failing, because there was no possible way I'd be able to afford to raise three children alone.

It was unthinkable that I would have to buy a larger, more expensive vehicle to fit a third car seat.

It was unthinkable that when I visited my doctor to confirm the pregnancy, he explained that - in Niagara - it would be nearly six weeks before I could have an abortion.

It was unthinkable that there were only two physicians in Niagara who perform the procedure.

It was unthinkable that having an abortion in Niagara meant an overnight stay in hospital.

It was unthinkable that I had to go to Toronto to have an abortion (I was fortunate that I had the ability to do that).

MyUnthinkableAbortion, though, resulted in feelings of relief (the most common feeling for someone who's just had an abortion) for myself and my then-husband.

My UnthinkableAbortion was one of the most difficult decisions of my life.

MyUnthinkableAbortion was, without a doubt, the best decision I could have made for myself, my children, and their father.

MyUnthinkableAbortion was a medical procedure that my healthcare providers and I decided was the best course of action, just as my healthcare providers and I had decided that the several knee surgeries I've had were the best course of action.

MyUnthinkableAbortion is none of your business.

It is unthinkable that, in a different time, in a different part of the world, I would have been forced to give birth, risking the physical, social, and financial health of my children, myself, and my children's father.

It is unthinkable that you believe you have anything to contribute to a conversation around women's bodily autonomy beyond acknowledging that you have no idea the toll of pregnancy and childbirth take.

It is unthinkable that you believe - if you had your way, and it doesn't appear you do or will - you can legislate what women do with their bodies.

It is unthinkable that you would rather see women die than have access to safe, legal abortions.