When my husband and I found out that the baby I carried had severe chromosomal abnormalities, we made the heartbreaking decision to terminate the pregnancy in the 19th week. This decision was based on our doctors’ assessment that our baby was “incompatible with life” and that continuing the pregnancy would prolong the baby’s suffering and endanger my health. In an anxious search online for stories of women who had experienced this traumatic loss and for information about the details of the medical procedure and its physical and emotional impacts, I was surprised not only by the lack of first account stories online, but by how many websites lured me into viewing their pro-life proselytizing content, urging me not to consider abortion. During my darkest days after our baby’s diagnosis, on-line extremists called women like me considering a later abortion, “Baby-Killer.”
Some argue that termination for medical reasons is on higher moral ground than the termination of unwanted pregnancies. I believe that whatever the reasons behind choosing abortion, nobody goes around wanting to have an abortion and all of us likely agonize over the decision and worry about the impact it will have on our physical and mental well-being. We are all in the same boat after we choose that decision. Everyone who decides on abortion wants legal access and safe procedures and no one wants to return to the days of botched alley abortions. And yet politicians in 2014 want to turn back the clock on women’s rights and deny them access to their constitutionally protected right to having an abortion. Pro-life extremists use violent tactics to intimidate (harm and kill) doctors and patients, insurance companies refuse coverage for abortion, making it difficult for women to afford the procedure, and “crisis pregnancy centers” trick and manipulate vulnerable women away from medically accurate information about abortions. Women seeking abortions must increasingly submit to forced sonograms, mandatory waiting periods and parental consent forms–with less and less available clinics and providers that can provide a safe procedure. There is a lot of work ahead of us.
Although the purpose of this blog is to help support the needs of women who decide to terminate wanted pregnancies, this experience has recommitted me to supporting legislation that upholds the rights of all women to have access to safe and legal abortions in both wanted and unwanted pregnancies. Through the sharing of personal stories, relevant articles, resources and current information about the process of late-term abortions and the policies that affect them, I hope to help ease the pain for women experiencing this kind of late-term pregnancy loss. I dedicate this blog to all the courageous doctors who have helped women in situations similar to mine and to all those who have fought for the reproductive rights of women in the US and around the world.
–Sammi (not my real name)
Late-Term Abortion in Wanted Pregnancies 