Your Body Your Choice Vicki Wu **TW: RAPE AND TRAUMA** CAST MELANIE: young woman who was raped and gets pregnant, age 22 MELANIE’S CONSCIENCE: Melanie’s conscience wants her to get an abortion KAELYN: Melanie’s daughter, age 5 JANET: Melanie’s supportive best friend, age 22 SOPHIE: teenage girl who gets accidentally pregnant, age 19 PRO-LIFER 1 AND 2: middle-aged women who stand across the street of an abortion clinic to protest those who want to get an abortion SYNOPSIS MELANIE finds out that she is pregnant by her rapist, and is pressured to keep her child. Not only does she have to heal her wounds and overcome the trauma she has gone through, but she also has to raise and take care of her child with birth defects. She feels miserable when her daughter asks who her dad is and barely has enough money to raise her child. They are forced to live in harsh conditions. PROLOGUE Lights on. MELANIE wakes up on the couch. Bottles of alcohol are scattered on the kitchen floor. MELANIE (looking over at the clock and placing her hand on her stomach) Ugh… What time is it? JANET You should really stop day drinking, Mel. It's 1:30 PM and you’re almost late to therapy. MELANIE But it really helps clear my mind from what happened a few weeks ago… JANET (faintly sighs) Mmm okay then. We should get going. I’ll drive. MELANIE: Okay let me go to the bathroom real quick. MELANIE walks to the bathroom and rummages through the drawers. She takes out a pregnancy test and leaves the stage. Thirty seconds later, she comes back. MELANIE (closing her eyes) Please don’t be positive. Please don’t be positive. Please don’t be positive. MELANIE opens her eyes. Dramatic music plays as she drops the pregnancy test on the floor. She drops onto her knees, expressionless, eyes wide open, staring at the floor. SCENE 1 MELANIE and JANET are on their way to an abortion clinic. They are currently outside an abortion clinic. MELANIE (shaking) I’m kinda nervous, Janet. I’m not sure if I should go through with this anymore. JANET You’ve been saying how you wanted an abortion ever since you found out you were pregnant. I’ll support whatever decision you go with, but it seems like you really want this. MELANIE You’re right. I do want this. The baby was probably harmed from all the alcohol I drank. PRO-LIFER 1 and PROLIFER-2 are across the stage. They yell out to MELANIE and JANET. PROLIFER 1 Are you crazy, lady? You realize you’re about to murder a living human being, right? MELANIE Well, I think that — PROLIFER 2 Have you ever witnessed an abortion? An unborn baby, with a heart, fighting for their life, desperately trying to move away but can’t. It’s just gruesome. PROLIFER 1 All human beings have human rights, and unborn babies are still human beings. They have the right to not be intentionally killed. PROLIFER 2 Yeah! Abortion is morally wrong. You’ll go to hell if you go through with this. MELANIE But I’ve been -- PROLIFER 1 If you don’t want the child, give birth and allow the couples that do want a child to adopt it. MELANIE starts crying and JANET puts her arm around her. JANET Don’t let them get to you, Mel. They don’t know your story. It’s your body, so it’s your choice. I’ll be with you the whole way. MELANIE (shaking) I-I can’t do this. MELANIE runs off the stage to the left. JANET MEL! COME BACK! Janet runs off the stage to the left. SCENE 2 MELANIE sits alone in her bedroom a week after the abortion clinic incident. She lays on her bed. There is a nightstand next to her bed with a dim lit lamp on it. MELANIE (to herself) I haven’t been feeling too great lately… MELANIE’S CONSCIENCE (appears from behind her bed) You shouldn’t go through with this. MELANIE But don’t you remember what those guys said? MELANIE’S CONSCIENCE So what? You’re going through a tough time right now and giving birth to a child you have to raise will make your situation worse. MELANIE What are you talking about? MELANIE’S CONSCIENCE You lost your job after you were raped, and you can barely afford to pay for yourself. Once you have your child, you can’t ask Janet for more money considering how much she’s helping you out right now. Your child isn’t going to live such a great life with your current condition, you know? MELANIE But everyone’s going to look down on me if I have an abortion… MELANIE’S CONSCIENCE Who cares what others will think? People don’t even know what you’ve been through, they’re in no place to judge you and your decisions. You’ll always have Janet by your side to support you. You shouldn’t have to go through even more pain and try to raise a child that won’t live a good life. You aren’t ready for this, Melanie. MELANIE I can’t... People will judge me for the rest of my life. Just leave me ALONE! You don’t know what you’re talking about! MELANIE turns off her lamp and goes to sleep. SCENE 3 Five years later, Melanie sits in her bedroom with her daughter, Kaelyn. Toys are scattered across the floor. Kaelyn is on her bed. Melanie sits at her desk, scrolling through her laptop. KAELYN Mommy, who’s my dad? We were drawing family pictures in class today and my friends asked me who my dad is, but I dunno who he is. MELANIE pauses. MELANIE Well, um… your dad can’t be with us. He’s in a far away place. KAELYN (frowns) Why not? MELANIE (sadly) You’ll understand when you’re older, sweetie. KAELYN (sniffles) Why can’t I know now? MELANIE You’ll understand soon. It’s okay, honey, we have each other. And that’s all that matters. KAELYN (shouts) But all my friends at school will make fun of me in class for not having a dad! MELANIE It’s okay, sweetie… KAELYN (shouts) NO IT’S NOT! KAELYN starts to yell. MELANIE kneels down and starts shaking and crying while hugging Kaelyn. KAELYN (confused) Mommy? SCENE 4 After a few days pass by, Melanie and Janet decide to meet up for some coffee. Melanie sits outside a coffee shop, with drinks on the table, and jitters her leg up and down while waiting for Janet to arrive. JANET I’m here! JANET enters from the left of the stage. JANET How’ve you been doing, Mel? MELANIE (sighs) I’ve been better... Kaelyn asked me who her father the other day was and I didn’t know how to respond. JANET What’d you end up telling her? MELANIE (sobs) Well, I didn’t want to lie to her because she’d find out eventually. But she’s too young to know the truth. I just told her she would find out soon, and then she got all upset that I didn’t tell her. Watching her cry broke my heart. And I can’t believe I fell apart. IN FRONT OF HER. I’m such a horrible mother. MELANIE I should’ve never listened to those stupid people. I should’ve gotten an abortion. Now, Kaelyn is having a hard time dealing with things because she has ADHD from all the alcohol that I drank. And I can’t even provide emotional support for her because of my depression and all the time spent at work. JANET You’re not a terrible mother. Even though you’re going through a rough patch right now, you’re trying to do all that you can for her. MELANIE But I’m not enough for her. And I’m never going to be. JANET Mel, you’re prioritizing her over everything else. You’re doing all that you can. You are working three different jobs to provide for her while also trying to overcome your PTSD. She doesn’t realize how hard you’re working for her because of how young she is. I’m sure when she’s older she’ll realize it and be more appreciative. And I’ll be there for you every step of the way. MELANIE places her hand on her cheek and leans on it, with a pondering expression, while tears form into her eyes. MELANIE I feel like I should’ve gone through with that abortion… JANET Yeah, you shouldn’t have let those two women’s opinions get to you. But what’s done is done. Don’t ponder about the past, and focus on what you can do now to heal yourself. Everything will be fine, Mel. Give it some time. I’m here for you no matter what. JANET moves her chair alongside MELANIE’s and puts her arm around her. JANET smiles and hugs MELANIE. MELANIE leans into JANET’s embrace. SCENE 5 A few years go by. Melanie is sitting at a desk in a room. Bookshelves are on the right and papers are stacked on her desk. MELANIE Hey Sophie, come on in! SOPHIE awkwardly enters the room, avoiding eye contact. MELANIE (smiles) No need to be shy or embarrassed, I’m here for you. SOPHIE (lightly) Haha yeah, right… um… I’m a month pregnant and I don’t know what to do… My mind is telling me to get an abortion because my mom would KILL me if she found out I had sex, but at the same time my boyfriend keeps telling me that if I get an abortion, that means I’m a murderer and I’ll go to hell. And before you judge me, YES, I did use protection, but it broke. MELANIE I’m not here to judge you. I’m here to help you. SOPHIE smiles. MELANIE Listen, you should do whatever your heart tells you to do. Don’t listen to what others think. I went through something similar. When I was 22, I was raped and got pregnant. SOPHIE Oh my god, I’m so sorry to hear that. MELANIE Yeah… it was rough. At the time, I wanted an abortion, but two women across the street of the abortion clinic told me the same things your boyfriend told you. My best friend supported mydecision of wanting to get an abortion, but I just let those two stupid women’s opinions affect me. If you want this, then you should do it. You shouldn’t let others' opinions affect yours. SOPHIE (tears up) Yeah, but I'm so scared that people will judge me for the rest of my life. And my boyfriend will break up with me and hate me forever. MELANIE If that so-called boyfriend of yours doesn't support and respect your decision o, then kick him out of your life. He’s not the one going through the nine months of pain. SOPHIE But what about the people who will judge me? I just don’t want anyone to think differently about me because of this… MELANIE It’s your body, so it’s your choice. And people’s opinions shouldn’t matter because they don’t know your current situation. I am here to support you. If you’re not ready for a child, then you shouldn’t go through with it. I had these same exact thoughts when I was in your place, and looking back at it, I should’ve not let those women get into my head. My current living situation with my daughter isn’t the best, and I wished she would’ve grown up in a better environment with a better mother. I had PTSD when I had her as well, so I distanced myself a lot from her. It was so hard to give her the love that she needed because I didn’t even love myself. Our relationship is still rocky, but I try my best every day. But it’s so hard to do that when I have to work a minimum wage job with long hours. I barely have time to see her because I am trying to support her financially, but I’m sure she’ll understand when she’s older. If you don’t follow your gut instinct, you’ll probably regret it when you’re older. Don’t make the same mistakes as me. SOPHIE Oh… that’s a lot to take in. I’m so sorry to hear that and I hope things get better for you, but I understand what you’re trying to say. Thank you for the advice, and sharing such a personal story with me. I need some time to rethink things and be confident in whatever I decide to do. MELANIE I’m glad I could help. MELANIE smiles as tears form in her eyes. She tries to wipe them away but tears keep forming. SOPHIE smiles shyly at the ground. EPILOGUE After a month goes by, SOPHIE decides to go back to visit MELANIE. MELANIE sits in the same room, with bookshelves on the right and papers stacked on her desk. SOPHIE enters the room. MELANIE Hi Sophie! It’s been such a long time, how’ve you been doing? SOPHIE (excited) I did it, I got an abortion a week ago! MELANIE Oh my god! I’m so proud of you for listening to your heart. SOPHIE (softly laughs) At first, I was pretty scared honestly. My boyfriend kept texting me all these mean things and threatening to break up with me. It took awhile for me to come to this decision, and going back and rethinking what you said really helped. I thought about the consequences of not going through with the abortion, and then what you said. I just feel like I’m not ready to be a mother yet. Plus, my parents wouldn’t even support me and be mad at me forever. I just came by to update you because I just wanted to share the news with you! MELANIE I’m so glad to hear that! MELANIE smiles as her heart fills with warmth.
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