Summary

“The Abortion” by Alice Walker tells the story of Imani, a young African-American woman, married to Clarence with whom she has a two-year old daughter. When Imani finds out that she is pregnant again she decides to have an abortion, unless her husband convinces her not to. Imani realizes that she does not really want the second baby, but expects her husband to take more care of her. Clarence does not insist on keeping the baby because he is more concerned with his career, and Imani flies to New York to have the abortion. Imani recalls a previous abortion she had in college when this procedure was illegal. She remembers bleeding for a long time after the operation.

In New York, the abortion procedure is fast and Imani notices that there are many...