What It’s Like to Get an Abortion During COVID-19

Article originally appeared in Swell on September 22nd, 2020.

Nik Zaleski was pulling into the parking lot of a Planned Parenthood in northern California on March 17 when she received a text message from a close friend: “Governor Newsom is about to announce this shelter in place order. Get everything you need before the city goes on lockdown.” 

Of course, Zaleski’s friend had no idea that what she needed, at that moment, was a medication abortion. 

“I wasn’t even sure, after getting that message, if I was even allowed to go into the clinic,” says 34-year-old Zaleski, an abortion storyteller with We Testify, an organization dedicated to the leadership and representation of people who’ve had abortions. “I was confused and didn’t know what it meant. The first question I asked the receptionist was, ‘Am I allowed to be here?’”