The Pro-Choice Firewall is Gone Post 2014 Elections
Say NO to South Carolina’s Senator Lindsey Graham who introduced a bill to ban abortion at 20 weeks in all 50 states. Please take a moment to click below and send a message to your state senator opposing a nationwide abortion ban that would endanger the lives of women.
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)
Here is my very long and detailed story about our pregnancy loss and later-term abortion at 19 weeks:
Even though it was winter and bitterly cold after a big storm hit our city, my husband and I decided to go with our son to the beach to take our annual holiday card photo. In front of the powerful waves we both loved to watch, my husband set up the camera to get a full-body view of me and I made sure everyone would be able to see my pudgy, protruding belly by accentuating its form with my hands. The waves would be a good symbol, I thought, for the strength I’d need during the upcoming labor and birth of our second child. Everything was rosy in our family and the pregnancy had gone as planned for 18 weeks–joyful and easy. When I look at that photo now, I remember all of the excitement that came with that pregnancy–wondering what our future family would look like, if our baby was going to be a boy or a girl, trying to imagine the exhausting yet exhilarating first days of our new baby’s life. The powerful kicks in my tummy were constant reminders that all was well and that I’d finally made it to the half-way point in the pregnancy. Soon, we’d be on our way to every pregnant couple’s favorite doctor’s visit: the level 2 ultrasound appointment when you get to finally see that clear ultrasound image of your baby, know for almost certain that everything with the baby is okay (and for sure, it would be!) and finally, to find out if “it” is a boy or a girl (I was secretly hoping “it” was a girl).
In the first trimester, I had “passed” the Nuchal Translucency (NT) and AFP blood screenings for chromosomal disorders and heart defects with flying colors, so when I went in to get blood drawn for the Triple Screen in my second trimester, I felt confident that we’d receive similar good news. I had every reason to believe that we were going to soon be honing in on girl or boy names for our perfect, little baby as we looked admiringly at a clear level 2 ultrasound image. But that belief was set aside when we received the Triple Screen results indicating a “positive screen.” At that time, we were told that many positive screens for the Triple Screen end up being false positives due to maternal age and to not worry too much, especially since our first trimester screens gave us a low chance of abnormalities. In any case, I would need to get an amnio and have a level 2 ultrasound immediately. While giddy, chatty couples flipped through parenting and baby magazines in the lobby, my husband and I held hands in silence, trying to muster up courage and cling onto the hope that we’ll leave with ultrasound images of a perfect baby, maybe even giving us a thumbs-up that all was okay after all. The technician came in and started to take many measurements of the baby’s image on the screen. After every measurement she took, the look on her face got more and more serious and she remained nearly silent the whole time. I tried to lighten things up by smiling at her and asking her in a friendly tone, “What measurement is that?” or “How can you tell what that is with such blurry images?” or “Is that the leg or the penis?” I’ll never forget her lack of response and that cold look and demeanor of hers that day. I think I must have begun to go into some sort of denial at this point because under normal circumstances, I’d be able to put everything together and know that something was very wrong, but in my hope that she was just a rude person, I kept asking my questions. Then, I noticed my husband no longer had the fake smile on his face and had a look of worry and fear instead. When I asked the technician if she could tell if it was a boy or a girl, she gave me the curt answer: “I’m not even thinking about boy or girl right now, I’m really not.” As if she had a reason to be mad! And then she walked out of the room in a hurry.
Kate Sheppard of Mother Jones looks at 5 anti-abortion states to watch in 2013:
Mississippi: Mississippi lawmakers passed a new law back in April requiring all doctors who provide abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. Given the strongly anti-abortion bent in the state, hospitals have all refused to grant those privileges. The resulting crisis may lead to the closure of the state’s last abortion clinic, the Jackson Women’s Health Organization—just as lawmakers hoped. The clinic was given until January 11 to try to come into compliance with the new law, but now it’s clear that it can’t, so the Center for Reproductive Rights has asked the judge to declare the law unconstitutional. Both sides are expected back in court in early 2013.
Virginia: In September, Virginia’s Board of Health voted to require all abortion clinics in the state to comply with strict new building codes, backtracking from an earlier vote that would have grandfathered in existing clinics. The rules mean that many clinics would need to make expensive upgrades to their facilities, or could be forced to close entirely. Gov. Bob McDonnell signed off on them last month, and they will now undergo another public comment period and Board of Health vote. Meanwhile, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli—who blocked the attempt to protect existing clinics from the new rules—is the GOP front-runner in the 2013 governor’s race.
Texas: Where to start on Texas? The state defunded Planned Parenthood, and already requires women seeking abortions to have invasive sonograms or listen to the fetus’ heartbeat. Next year promises even more anti-choice initiatives. Texas plans to begincollecting information about women seeking abortions and the doctors who provide them next year—a move that critics say is an invasion of privacy. In December, Gov. Rick Perry said hewill support a ban on all abortions after 20 weeks’ gestation next year, in pursuit of his desire “to make abortion at any stage a thing of the past.” And lawmakers in the state are also already talking about restricting medication abortions next year.
Arizona: In April, Arizona passed a new law banning most abortions after 20 weeks. Although Arizona was the sixth state to pass one of these so-called “fetal pain” laws, the legislation was notable in that it was more restrictive than previous versions, as it actually banned abortions two weeks earlier than other states. The Center for Reproductive Rights and the ACLU filed suit, but a judge upheld the law. CRR appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which granted a stay while it considers the arguments. The outcome will likely be determined sometime in 2013.
North Dakota: The state House passed a “personhood” measure in 2011. HB 1450 would “recognize the value and dignity of every living human being,” according to state Rep. Dan Ruby. It didn’t pass the Senate, however. But the North Dakota Legislature only meets every other year, so they’ll be back in 2013 and will probably have some new anti-abortion legislation ready to go.
Late-Term Abortion in Wanted Pregnancies 