I had an abortion in the UK when I was 19. The only reason I am not a criminal is because I live in England

The only shame I feel about my termation is over the fact that I live in a country where two women can fall pregnant as a teenager and, while one can move on with their life, the other ends up with a suspended prison sentence

Protesters gather after the conviction of a 21-year-old woman for performing her own abortion two years earlier. (Getty Images)

The most important lesson I learned during my teenage years was that ketamine is not a valid form of contraception. Neither is prayer, the withdrawal method, or steadfastly refusing to acknowledge that pregnancy is a side effect of sex.

But when I did get pregnant at 19 – the same age as a woman in Northern Ireland who was given a suspended prison sentence for having an abortion on Monday – my termination was easy to access, completely free and totally legal.

I was lucky: the most recent estimates from the Family Planning Association (FPA) show at least 837 women from Northern Ireland travelled to England in order to get an abortion. Each one of those women is more than likely a citizen of the UK, just as I am, but none were entitled to the same free medical care because of an accident of geography.

Each one of those women will have paid between £600-£2,000 for the procedure, including travel and expenses, depending on their stage of pregnancy. Some will have had to clear their savings accounts, pawn their engagement rings or go to loan sharks to obtain enough money just to make the journey to England. And when they get home, many will have to lie about where they have been. In a country where abortion is highly restricted, unlike other parts of the UK, having a termination still carries a lot of stigma. Those who can’t afford it, like the woman convicted in Northern Ireland yesterday, who has not been named, may try to buy drugs to get a termination online.

Like her, I am speaking anonymously, but not because I feel any embarrassment or humiliation about having an abortion. I've kept my identity to myself because it takes more than one person to get pregnant, and the man involved in this tale isn't as comfortable as me with being identified. The only thing I feel shame about is living in a country where two women can get pregnant at 19 and while one can get a free termination and happily move on with their life, the other can end up with a three month prison sentence.

Finding out I was pregnant at a young age ranks among the worst moments of my life, but when I think about my abortion it’s impossible to feel sad. I’m delighted that I could easily access healthcare that let me move on with my life without having to have a child I was in no way ready for, or clear out my savings and travel hundreds of miles to have a medical procedure I couldn’t tell anyone about.

Northern Ireland’s barbaric treatment of pregnant women and restrictive abortion laws shouldn’t be something that’s only in the public consciousness when a woman is convicted of a crime or challenges the police to arrest her. But if that’s what it takes to get us to think about it, it’s time to stay angry – because otherwise nothing will change.