You deserve the best possible future, the best possible medical care
and the best possible support from friends and family.
Here are some tips to help you help yourself.

If you think you may be pregnant, find out for sure and do it as quickly as possible. It is now possible to get an accurate result on a pregnancy test as early as ten days after intercourse. Home pregnancy tests can be unreliable. Go to your doctor or to a family planning clinic, such as Planned Parenthood, for a professional lab test. Many clinics have free, walk-in testing.

If you are pregnant you have three options: continue with the pregnancy and raise the child yourself, the news of your pregnancy might be just what you wanted to hear, you could also continue with the pregnancy and place the child with an adoption agency, or you can have an abortion. Whatever choice you make, for your best health, you should try to make it soon. Good pre-natal care is essential for your health and the child’s if you choose to continue with the pregnancy. Early abortion, in the first 12 weeks, is easy to arrange, simple and safe. An abortion within the first trimester is 20 times safer than carrying a pregnancy to term. Waiting till after the first 12 weeks makes abortion more physically risky, more financially costly, more difficult to arrange and more emotionally stressful. Whatever you choose, making the choice sooner is far better, healthier and safe, than making it later.

Tell someone you trust. Every woman needs caring support when deciding what to do about an unintended pregnancy. Let your family and friends help. If you are young they might be upset at first, but most families get past that and want to give you positive support and advice. You can choose a friend or teacher, an aunt or a clergy person – whoever you feel safe and comfortable with. In New Jersey you do not have to ask or tell anyone before you get any form of reproductive health care – including an abortion – no matter how old you are. Whomever you choose to confide in let them help you make a choice you can feel comfortable with. But remember, denial is not a choice – ignoring this will not make it go away. Delaying a decision will only make things more difficult and dangerous. If you choose to have an abortion you do not have to feel ashamed or guilty. Although choosing abortion is a complex and stressful process, most women feel relieved after an early abortion.

Not all family planning facilities are the same. Planned Parenthood and other family planning clinics are reliable, offer high-quality health care and will treat you with respect. Be wary of places which call themselves “Crisis Pregnancy Centers” or “Friendship Pregnancy Centers”. These usually do not have trained medical staff or comprehensive medical treatment. They could try and convince you to continue with the pregnancy, or persuade you that abortion is “evil” or dangerous. Reputable family planning facilities will discuss all of your options with you and help you choose a plan that is best for you without trying to coerce or frighten you. If any facility feels wrong, or you are not being treated with dignity, leave and find another facility. You deserve the best.

You are not alone, you are not the first. As long as there have been pregnancies, there have been abortions. Today you do not have to risk you health, your life or your future when dealing with an unintended pregnancy. There is affordable, caring, high-quality counseling and medical care available to you.

If you are not pregnant, celebrate! Everyone’s first choice is to avoid an unintended pregnancy in the first place. A pregnancy scare can give you a chance to think carefully about your sexual choices: your partner, your choice of and use of birth control and your feelings about the behavior that made you feel at risk in the first place.

• You can take a sex break – time to think and rest.
• Make yourself a promise - SAFER SEX OR NO SEX
• Use birth control EVERY time – knowing every method has a failure rate.
• Work to be careful when choosing a partner.
• Work to be responsible when choosing and using a method of birth control.
• Try not to judge yourself or others too harshly – we’re all human.

Revised 6/03