1/Being an OBGYN was my dream since high school. I shadowed an OBGYN and was amazed at how quick thinking, calm, and compassionate this person was. I decided I was going to be an OBGYN when I was 17 because I "wanted to deliver babies." 🧵 2/I studied, I volunteered at a hospital, I took the MCAT, and was elated to be accepted to medical school. All because I "wanted to deliver babies."

1/If you are not angered by todays decision you live in a world of privilege. You are privileged to have had safe and consensual sexual relations. You are privileged to have had access to contraception when you needed it. 2/You are privileged to have not experienced a contraceptive method failure. You are privileged to have had the ability to decide if and when to get pregnant. You have been privileged to have had healthy pregnancies.

1/Today I was providing abortion care. Something I am proud to do. But today, something happened that angered me to my core. Today, I had to hold the hand of a sobbing patient who had been traumatized by a crisis pregnancy center (CPC). 2/For those of you who are unfamiliar with CPCs, they are fake health centers ran by predominantly religious right groups whose goal is to dissuade patients from having an abortion. They masquerade as women's health providers and target women seeking an abortion.

1/Good morning Twitter. Let's finish the week with today's version of "Lies #MOLeg Tells About Abortion in Missouri" by discussing minors and abortion care. #HB126 (house.mo.gov/Bill.aspx?bill…) was sponsored by @NickBSchroer, supported by @MOGOPAssembly & signed by @GovParsonMO. 2/Let's not forget @Koenig4MO & @BobOnderMO who helped author and promote this bill. You can see a full list of sponsors on the bill's website. This law includes an 8wk ban but also something sneaky. An "emergency clause" regarding minors.

1/ In today's broadcast of "Lies #MOLeg Tells About Abortion in Missouri" let's talk about if abortion is dangerous/unsafe in this state. Uninterested in a long tweet? Here's the punch line: Abortion is safe! For those of you who like numbers because #FactsMatter read on. 2/All information on this tweet is publicly available at health.mo.gov/data/vitalstat…. The most recent data is from 2017. From DHHS' website you can find this quote: "Complications were associated with 1.9% of Missouri abortions." There were 3,903 abortions in Missouri in 2017.

Lots of responses and inquiries about my tweet on Monday so let's review what #MOLeg requires vs what is medically necessary. I will preface this by saying I am not a lawyer. I am simply an OBGYN trying to reconcile what science teaches me and what #MOLeg requires. I refute these requirements with information from @theNASEM report on the Safety and Quality of abortion (nap.edu/catalog/24950/…). I’ll refer to this as NASEM for this tweet.