Two Indiana women share their abortion stories and differing opinions

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Two Indiana women have two abortion stories and two different sides of the issue.

News 8’s Hanna Mordoh sat down with the women to hear their unique perspectives on abortion a week before Indiana lawmakers meet for a special session to enact new abortion restrictions.

Chelsea Pell and Michelle Mimms-Duchan both had abortions, and now one is for abortion rights and the other is anti-abortion.

“I don’t want to have a baby, so I got an abortion,” Michelle Mimms-Duchan, from Indianapolis, said.

“It was my choice to terminate the pregnancy and I have made my peace with that,” Chelsea Pell, from Bloomington, said.

Pell and Mimms-Duchan both got pregnant young, and both had abortions — but their opinions differ on this.

“I know what I did was wrong and I know the importance of the seed in your body,” Mimms-Duchan said.

“It might be killing a baby to you, but it is not to us. And we are okay with that,” Pell said.

Chelsea Pell’s story

Pell grew up in Bloomington and got pregnant at 21 years old. She wasn’t in a serious relationship and hardly had enough money to survive.

“To bring a baby into this world that cannot be adequately cared for is, I think, irresponsible. It is not fair to you and it is not fair to the baby,” said Pell.

Pell had always wanted to be a mom and tried to find a path forward that included a baby, however, she couldn’t see this future working. Therefore, at 8 weeks, she took the pills to end the pregnancy.

“I went through the abortion process by myself…It was awful — I wish it on nobody. Nobody wants to go and have one done. And I went to live the rest of my life,” Pell said.

Pell went on to graduate college, have a career, and, when ready, she got married and had a family of her own. She has a stepson and had 2 daughters, but one died of natural causes in the womb.

“We lost her at 29 weeks. And it was devastating,” Pell said.

Her daughter Clara’s heart stopped beating, however, Pell’s body didn’t recognize that the baby had passed in her womb. Pell said the same medicine used to help mothers in some abortions or miscarriages helped her deliver the stillborn baby.

“It just breaks your heart…and if I would not have been able to have that kind of medicine at that time, I mean, I would have died,” Pell said.

That’s her fear for women now, that they won’t get the treatment they need or want. That their choice for their own body, their medical needs or wants, will be gone.

“I know people who have had abortions but I don’t know anybody who has regretted it,” Pell said.

Michelle Mimms-Duchan’s story

“Children are a blessing and not a curse,” Mimms-Duchan said.

Mimms-Duchan says she regrets her abortions.

“I know it is wrong. God gave us all a choice here. Even though we have a choice, it doesn’t mean it is right,” Mimms-Duchan said. “I think about the children and who they could have become.”

For her, not having the choice may have been better. She grew up in Indianapolis and got pregnant at 15 years old. She was so scared and decided to get an abortion. Then, at 25 years old, she found herself in a similar situation.

“I just cried — I cried every day. Because, Lord, I don’t want to have this baby, I am getting ready to graduate. I have two kids. I am divorced,” Mimms-Duchan said.

She had the abortion and then, a year later, she was pregnant again. She thought about abortion but said several signs from God pushed her to keep the baby.

“It’s been a blessing that I did choose to keep the child,” Mimms-Duchan said.

Mimms-Duchan graduated college and went on to have a career and is now a mother of three adult children.

“This is the mistake I could have made and I could not have had them in my life,” Mimms-Duchan said.

Her son, Thomas, is grown and is a father himself. She wants people to see him and choose life.

“I just hope they (women) make the right choice,” Mimms-Duchan said, “to keep the baby.”

Indiana Abortion Statistics

Data from the Indiana Department of Health shows 8,414 women got abortions in Indiana in 2021. Only 105 of those abortions happened after the pregnancy hit the 14-week mark. More than half were women in their 20s and 234 were younger than 18 years old.

What Mimms-Duchan and Pell think about abortion

When asked, “Do you think that’s a good thing if lawmakers ban abortion here in Indiana?”, Mimms-Duchan said, “I think so…I think so.”

Pell vehemently disagrees. “Women should have a choice in this matter. It is their body and it is their choice.”

Now, despite different abortion stances, these women have similar fears about the potential repercussions of abortion restrictions in Indiana.

“Abortion will not end. Safe abortion will end and we are going to be caught in this place where there are either lots of women harmed trying to get them or lots of women who just cannot afford to take care of them (a baby),” Pell said.

“It’s a no-win. Either it is going to be legal and [there will be] a lot done, or it is going to be illegal and a lot of women are going to lose their life,” Mimms-Duchan said. “Everybody has a choice. If they want to do it, they will do it, laws or no laws.”