This Week in Abortion, Personal Story #1
Weekly news, insightful reads, and policy insights about abortion.
Welcome to your weekly roundup of abortion news, articles, and general hot takes. We try to filter through a policy lens to help you focus on the happenings most likely to have an impact.
At the end of today’s newsletter, we invite you to read about Mollie’s personal journey with maternal care and abortion.
Good Reads
The New York Times had a feature piece this week detailing upcoming bills, tracking anti-access policies, and costs. It is a long but interactive read if you have a good block of time.
Native Americans face disproportionate barriers to abortion services.
New Mexico’s role as an access sanctuary and anti-access hotbed demonstrates the “both/and” space many jurisdictions are straddling.
Events in the News
The Arkansas House passed a bill that would require companies that offer abortion coverage (like Walmart) to also offer a minimum of 12 weeks of maternity leave. While it has a ways to go to get through the state senate, it is a timely example of how the parent and women’s rights agenda is now coming into play. Perhaps an industrious legislator will counter by proposing that all established businesses give paid leave, as is required in a handful of states and 100+ governments around the world.
Across the Atlantic, Spain expanded pro-access rights, allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to obtain abortions without parental consent. The new law also solidifies the right to an abortion in state hospitals, which is an important equity measure and will compel state hospitals to have trained and willing physicians on staff - who have not registered personal religious objections.
Legal Updates
Kentucky’s Supreme Court kept enforcement of the state’s trigger ban in place and effectively shut down the lawsuit against a lesser, six-week ban. Litigation continues back in the lower courts. Kentucky voters rejected an anti-access constitutional amendment via ballot measure last year. But, don’t stay up waiting for the pro-access version. In Kentucky, only state legislators can create such measures and they are decidedly against having a right to abortion.
The North Carolina Attorney’s General will not defend state restrictions on abortion pills.
A Personal Story About Abortion
Sharing personal stories related to abortion can be cathartic and empowering, while simultaneously vulnerable and emotional. I struggled to decide if I wanted to share pieces of my own personal experience. In the end, I believe exposure to stories is how we all grow and build empathy and community. So, I am sharing a part of my story - a piece of my heart and also not the whole thing- as part of my continued journey. Thank you for the space to share it with you. --Mollie
[Content warning: The following text tells a story of pregnancy termination.]
I’ve had two abortions in the last four years. We were on the way out of our second prenatal appointment with a clean bill of health - good heartbeat, gaining weight, nice blood pressure - when my husband sweet-talked the ultrasound tech into a quick peek. I got up onto the bed, shirt up, gooey jelly on, and then the tech’s face went blank as she quickly excused herself to grab the doctor.
We were instructed to go immediately to the fetal medicine department at the hospital, where we learned it was likely our baby had a very rare, fatal condition. It would take a few more weeks before the doctors could feel confident in the diagnosis.
So we went home and waited. Stunned. Googling the worst.
When the diagnosis was confirmed, I was already in the second trimester and faced with a decision. The pregnancy was not at risk. The condition would not impact the fetus until birth, at which time our baby would have no lungs, no spinal cord, and significant heart defects. It would be unable to survive outside the womb. But, there was no immediate risk to my health. We had a choice - I could terminate the pregnancy or continue to full term and give birth to a baby who would never take one breath.
While there was no official threat to my health to continue the pregnancy (which deserves its own separate post), I knew it would be impossible for my mental health to carry to term a baby who I knew would die upon me laboring and giving birth. I knew I would never be able to muster the strength to not break down or ruin strangers’ days when they saw my pregnant body and asked with joy if I knew the gender and when I was due, unaware that the pregnancy would result in grief.
Two weeks later - at 14 weeks - I went to the hospital, fell asleep under anesthesia and it was done. My husband and I bought a lemon tree for our kitchen, the food size that the app indicated our fetus was when the pregnancy was terminated.
I am grateful I had the choice to wait and learn more into my second trimester, and the choice to terminate the pregnancy in love and in service to my mental health and desire for future children.
I am grateful on a daily basis that I live in Illinois and that my heartbreaking news arrived in November of 2019. Although in practice the state applied a viability standard, until June 2019, the actual laws on the books in Illinois banned abortions after 12 weeks. I was the living, breathing, practical application of the work of my colleagues in the Governor’s Office to expand abortion access.
I am grateful our appointment was on a slow ultrasound day and my provider allowed us to have a quick look. Normally, we would not have learned anything until our 20-week anatomy scan - often the only ultrasound women get, and beyond the termination threshold in many states. As I am writing this, I have an article open about two women in Kentucky who struggled to get the same care.
This abortion allowed our amazing and spunky son to be born a little over a year later. There is no counterfactual in these types of situations, but I am confident I would not have wanted children had I not had the choice to terminate, if instead I had been forced to carry to term.
A few months ago, I had to have another abortion at 12 weeks to remove the tissue of a missed miscarriage, and my heart felt sadness and calm. I went home after the procedure, tired and sore, watching in wonder as my toddler pointed out the flowers blossoming on our lemon tree.