Thread by @DrDGrossman

I want to elevate—and add to—this thread by @RHAVote's experience having a later abortion in Colorado and why Colorado voters should vote #NoOn115 which would create more barriers to patients who need later abortions and doctors who provide them.

https://twitter.com/RHAVote/status/1291750373498277888

The text of this ballot measure is very clear: abortion would only be allowed after 22 weeks if it were “immediately required” to save the life of the pregnant person.

That is not the same as a health exception. Medicine is rarely black & white—there’s a lot of grey.

#NoOn115

Sometimes people get very sick in pregnancy with high blood pressure and seizures, or they have prolonged bleeding from a placenta covering the cervix.

As an obstetrician, am I certain the patient will die without intervention? No.

Am I certain their health will be harmed? Yes.

An example from my practice: A patient was pregnant at 22.5 weeks and had prolonged bleeding from a placenta previa. The bleeding was getting heavier and it was clear that the pregnancy could not continue to a point where her baby could survive without serious medical problems.

That patient decided to have an abortion because it was the safest option for her. If this ballot measure became law, a similar patient would need to have a c-section, which increases the risks of complications both immediate and in future pregnancies.

#NoOn115

No two patients—or their pregnancies—are exactly the same. As providers, we have to be ready to treat a patient and offer them options to the best of our abilities. Laws based on ideology, not science, tie our hands to offer care to the best of our medical training.

#NoOn115

We should also make sure patients have access to abortion care throughout their pregnancy because not everyone is able to obtain care as soon as they want. Income inequity, systemic racism, and inconsistent healthcare create barriers. Everyone deserves access.

#NoOn115

This measure has no exception for incest or rape. Some survivors of sexual violence don’t seek care for an abortion until later in pregnancy—sometimes due to denial or stigma, sometimes because their decision is delayed. This would force them to continue the pregnancy.

#NoOn115

Patients deserve the freedom to decide the care they need. Providers' hands shouldn't be tied to provide life-saving care.

Colorado voters should vote #NoOn115.