Maria's Story

Maria was 14 and living with five other girls in a group home run by a married couple. Her house parents seemed very nice but as time revealed, the husband was a convicted felon.  Maria doesn’t remember exactly how long she lived in the house before she was sexually assaulted by the husband.  She was taken to a facility, examined, and given the morning-after pill.  The husband was charged with rape and the subject of an investigation regarding the possible sexual assault of other girls in his custody.  

Maria was glad that she received the morning-after pill because she is not sure how she would have handled a pregnancy at the age of 14 while also coping with all the other hardships she had experienced.  Maria believes that, "although rape victims may be robbed of their choice to have consensual sex, they should be given the choice to take the morning-after pill."  This way, they can be the ones to decide what happens with their body and choose to only bring children into this world when they are ready.  "Pregnancy should be out of love and not the result of a heinous crime like rape."  

--Maryland

This story was edited from testimony before Maryland Congress.