“Who can’t get an abortion by 22 wks?!” is a question we’re hearing a lot as we ask CO to vote #NoOn115 which would ban abortion care at that point in pregnancy. First, this is a real question for many people and one I used to ask before I needed one myself. But we know why: 🧵
First it’s important to acknowledge that the question presumes we all live in equitable environments and we simply do not. And covid is really laying that bare for us, right? The truth is millions in America are without essentials like food, stable shelter and basic healthcare.
Abortion seekers requiring care later in pregnancy are among the most underserved in our communities. Bans on abortion that suppose we can all just easily access healthcare - especially abortion care - at any time is typical bootstrap rhetoric and it is gaslighting.
Now while abortion early in pregnancy is incredibly common (1 in 4 people who can become pregnant get abortions in our lifetimes), abortions that happen after 22 wks are incredibly UNcommon. In fact we’re talking about less than 1% of abortions overall. And according to research,
A majority of those 1% of cases happen btw 20-24 wks of pregnancy and then drop off precipitously with each week after (so by the time we’re talking about 3rd tri procedures, we’re talking about a handful of highly unique and specialized cases).
So to recap, abortions later in pregnancy: 1% of cases, 100% of anti abortion billboard propaganda. Now, back to the question at hand: “why would anyone need an abortion at 22 wks?!” The answer is that we need abortions at 22 wks for the same reasons we need them at 6 wks.
But not everyone is able to get care as early as we would have liked. This could be because we learned new information later in our pregnancy that we simply could not have known any earlier, most commonly later discovery of pregnancy. Think that sounds impossible?
It’s actually more common than people think. Personally I found out about my 3rd pregnancy at 16 wks and I have excellent healthcare, food to eat and a roof over my head. The human body is complicated and for each person, each of our pregnancies feels really different.
In my case, my 3rd pregnancy was a joyful surprise. But that is not the case for everyone. For some, an unwanted pregnancy means they are more unsafe, more unable to feed the children they have and more likely to be tethered to abusive partners.
I can hear some of you now- “why weren’t they on biiiiiirth controoool?! 😩” Well, often they were! Which is the main reason they weren’t looking for pregnancy symptoms or were likely to attribute physical feelings to something else going on. Most are SHOCKED when they find out.
Still can’t imagine? It’s not so impossible when you consider young patients for obvious reasons and folks with complicated medical histories or just irregular cycles.
Anyway, once an unwanted pregnancy is discovered and the pregnant person decides to seek abortion for the good of their own health and safety and the health and safety of their families (always as soon as they possibly can), then they’re hit with more new information:
1. How far away they are from an abortion clinic 2. The laws in their state restricting what care is even available 3. How expensive abortion care is later in pregnancy and 4. That their insurance won’t cover it because they’re on Medicaid which won’t cover abortion by law
At that point, many would-be abortion seekers give up. The barriers feel insurmountable and without support or help, they carry those pregnancies for 4-5 more months. Abortion bans obviously do not account for the very real consequences of carrying unwanted pregnancies to term.
Thanks to The Turnaway Study, which studied people who were either turned away or did get their abortions on either side of a limit, we know those turned away are 4x more likely to live below the federal poverty line and are far more likely to have serious health complications.
So the reasons people gave for needing their abortions, the fears they had for themselves and for their children, proved to bare out. The tldr: we are experts in our own lives because we have the most information. Our doctors don’t even have all the information we have.
Now that you know how hard it is, how wild is it that we’re only talking about 1% of cases?? It’s honestly miraculous that so many are able to access care as early as they do when the cards are so stacked against us. Which begs a question-
Would easier access to earlier abortion care which would include expanding telehealth, self-managed care and repealing the racist, classist Hyde amendment, result in less need for care later in pregnancy? I mean...probably! We should do that! But
there will always be a need for access to abortion care after the 1st tri because that’s how it goes sometimes. We can’t legislate away teenagers finding out they’re pregnant later, something going wrong with the pregnancy or with our own health or endless unforeseen events.
Now for many this will be an unsatisfactory answer. The realities of people’s lives and health are not enough to offset the a developing potential human life for them. And that’s ok! I too deeply value human life so I’m not going to try and convince you otherwise.
I would even venture no one values developing life more than pregnant people. In wanted pregnancies, reaching milestones like potential viability are something we celebrate. It is certainly a factor we consider deeply when weighing whether or not to continue a pregnancy. But
it is not the ONLY factor we consider. We are weighing that potential for new life against our existing children’s ability to eat or not, whether it is in our interest to be tied forever to the man who inpregnanted us, and whether our bodies can handle it, etc.
Ultimately I would never ask anyone, even supporters, to approve or disapprove of my decision to end my pregnancy. I’m asking that folks decide I’m in the best position to make the determination and to withdraw their claim of authority over my life.
Voting No on 115 does not mean you approve or disapprove of anyone’s abortion. It means you acknowledge YOU should not have a say over our decisions. That we are already over-policed and over-regulated. Voting #NoOn115 acknowledges that life is complicated.
It means, even if you feel conflicted about abortions that happen later in pregnancy, the value of your discomfort is not greater than the value of my being able to make personal healthcare decisions without government interference. #NoOn115
