Listening to last night's #MT01 debate, and this "abortion up to the moment of birth" nonsense from @RyanZinke (and others) is just that -- nonsense. Why? 🧵
(TW miscarriage / pregnancy complications)
(TW miscarriage / pregnancy complications)
Facts: abortions after 21 weeks, which is about halfway through pregnancy, make up 0.7% of all abortions in Montana.
These are almost exclusively tragic medical situations that result in parents ending wanted pregnancies.
cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/7…
These are almost exclusively tragic medical situations that result in parents ending wanted pregnancies.
cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/7…
Why would someone have an abortion past 21 weeks?
Many times, it's because the detailed ultrasound called the "anatomy scan", which happens at 18 to 20 weeks, shows something terribly wrong. Something incompatible with life, like missing organs.
Many times, it's because the detailed ultrasound called the "anatomy scan", which happens at 18 to 20 weeks, shows something terribly wrong. Something incompatible with life, like missing organs.
Parents are then faced with the heart-wrenching choice of whether to continue the pregnancy and say goodbye to their baby at delivery in several months, or whether they can't bear the suffering this might involve.
This choice is very individual, and should be made by families.
This choice is very individual, and should be made by families.
Sometimes, there are maternal reasons for abortion >21 weeks.
Some I have personally seen?
Gunshot wounds to mom and baby, needing to control bleeding to save mom. Mom on a ventilator with respiratory failure, unlikely to survive if her body has the added burden of pregnancy.
Some I have personally seen?
Gunshot wounds to mom and baby, needing to control bleeding to save mom. Mom on a ventilator with respiratory failure, unlikely to survive if her body has the added burden of pregnancy.
So many things can happen in pregnancy.
My OB colleagues see people whose water breaks at 20 weeks, for example. At that point, infection can set in, or they just don't have enough fluid left for the baby's lungs to develop (which depends on this fluid) -- no chance of survival.
My OB colleagues see people whose water breaks at 20 weeks, for example. At that point, infection can set in, or they just don't have enough fluid left for the baby's lungs to develop (which depends on this fluid) -- no chance of survival.
These are all tragedies.
Parents grieve the loss of these pregnancies, and often are traumatized by the experience.
Abortion in these circumstances can be either absolutely necessary to save mom's life or the "least bad" option for a family with a fetus that can never survive.
Parents grieve the loss of these pregnancies, and often are traumatized by the experience.
Abortion in these circumstances can be either absolutely necessary to save mom's life or the "least bad" option for a family with a fetus that can never survive.
"Viability" is around 23-24 weeks, meaning that a baby has a chance of survival outside the womb.
What does happen if a mom is very sick and her baby is 23 or 24 weeks and viable? OBs deliver the baby. Neonatologists help with the intensive care needed to survive.
What does happen if a mom is very sick and her baby is 23 or 24 weeks and viable? OBs deliver the baby. Neonatologists help with the intensive care needed to survive.
I have seen women do remarkable things trying to reach that edge of viability and save their child's life, if there's even a chance:
- Delay chemotherapy
- Stay in bed in a hospital for weeks just to keep a fetus inside, when the cervix has dilated early
- Delay chemotherapy
- Stay in bed in a hospital for weeks just to keep a fetus inside, when the cervix has dilated early
These are difficult and harrowing choices that people never anticipate they may have to make.
They are choices that no law criminalizing them (or their physicians) will make any easier for them.
They are choices that no law criminalizing them (or their physicians) will make any easier for them.
It's insulting to hear politicians claiming that parents seek to abort pregnancies up until the moment of birth, as if on a whim.
Or that doctors are willing participants in something like that.
Or that doctors are willing participants in something like that.
So if you're hearing "abortion up until the moment of birth" from a politician, it's a great marker for the fact that:
(1) they don't have a good understanding of pregnancy complications and abortion, and
(2) they're manipulating you by using language for shock value.
/fin
(1) they don't have a good understanding of pregnancy complications and abortion, and
(2) they're manipulating you by using language for shock value.
/fin
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