DR. WALLACE: I'm 18 and think I'm in love with my boyfriend. We are sexually intimate, but there are times we have sex when he doesn't use a condom. At first we had sex about once out of every five dates. Now we are intimate every time we are together. It's easy because he has a van with the back seat out and a mattress in the back. This makes it really easy to share our love. I'm hoping I don't get pregnant, but we both agree that if I do, I would get an abortion.

My boyfriend is 20 and has a well-paying job working for his grandfather's company. He said that if an "accident" happened, he would pay all the medical bills. Now this has made me curious. Just how much does it cost to have an abortion? I know that Ken has over $5,000 in a bank savings account. — Nameless, Evansville, Ind.

NAMELESS: Please do not think of abortion as a last-resort birth control. You and your boyfriend are playing an extremely dangerous game. If you do have "an accident" - that is to say, if you conceive a child — the money it will cost to destroy the embryo is the least of it. An abortion can be the most expensive experience a female ever has.

You speak of the procedure as though it were treating a simple cold. Trust me, the emotional scars of an abortion are lasting and deep!

You will never have to worry about having an abortion if you stop making trips to the back of your boyfriend's van. I realize you aren't likely to heed my advice, but maybe the following letter, from a fellow Hoosier will bring you to your senses:

I FELT BOUTS OF DEPRESSION, SADNESS, AND GUILT

DR. WALLACE: I'm 31, married to a wonderful man who is the love of my life, and we have two beautiful healthy children. But every night before I go to sleep, I ask the Good Lord to forgive me for a deed I committed when I was 18.

My boyfriend and I were sexually active. I thought that I was "safe" because he used a condom every time we were intimate. Not so! I'm living proof that condoms are not 100 percent effective in preventing pregnancy. When my boyfriend found out, he went back to Australia and I never heard from him again.

My parents were no help. All they cared about was that if I had a baby out of wedlock it would tarnish their image, so they arranged for me to have an abortion. The day after the abortion was horrible. I felt great bouts of depression, sadness and guilt. That night I prayed for forgiveness and I've sincerely repeated that prayer every day since, and will continue to ask for forgiveness every day until I draw my last breath.

I'm writing this letter in hopes that I can reach teen girls and encourage them not to get sexually involved with a guy until they receive the blessing of marriage, but if that's not possible and an unwanted pregnancy occurs, please reconsider if abortion is a probability.

The depression and guilt sets in after the "convenient" act is done, not before. A loving husband and two precious children bring me everlasting joy, but they will never be able to erase that regrettable day 13 years ago! — Nameless, Fort Wayne, Ind.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. E-mail him at rwallace@thegreatestgift.com. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.