Okay, let’s give this a try, I’m making a Mastodon thread.
I get that I’m mostly talking to people who already agree with me, but I’ll share some things you maybe don’t know about abortion, especially if you don’t have a uterus and/or don’t have kids. Don’t be weird, I’ll block you.
Six weeks ago, I was diagnosed with a missed abortion. What this means practically is that I had a pregnancy was no longer growing or viable, but that was still in my body.
There are basically three ways to deal with this situation:
- a D&C surgery to remove the tissue from the uterus
- Taking misoprostol to get your body to expel the tissue
- Waiting for a miscarriage to happen naturally
I chose the first option, since misoprostol has a lower efficacy and surgery may still be required, and natural miscarriages can take weeks to resolve on their own.
It’s worth noting that the first two options are pretty similar to what you’d do in an elective abortion for an unwanted pregnancy (the only difference is that a medication abortion would typically also include mifepristone to block progesterone).
If I’d lived in a state where abortion isn’t protected, I would not have had these options. I would have had to wait, possibly weeks, to have a miscarriage and pass the pregnancy tissue on my own.
It’s not really possible to just ban the abortions you think are “bad” without affecting care for all pregnancy. About 1 in 10 medically confirmed pregnancies end in miscarriage, so this is not some strange anomaly that just happened to me.
This is all just to say, if you care about or are someone with a uterus, you should be fighting abortion restrictions tooth and nail.
Also, my insurance was billed $16,000. Love this country! 💕
@valerie
In my country most people don't tell anyone of a pregnancy before the 12th week because after that miscarriage is less common and it's hard to tell everyone afterwards that you're not getting a parent anymore... I know how this feels from a fathers perspective, my wife had two early miscarriage around week 5-6 before it worked.
I'm sorry for your loss but I'm glad you're okay with it (and also live in a country where you got medical help). Thank you for speaking up
@valerie thank you for sharing your personal experience.
Even women that have been fortunate to never need an abortion need to be reminded, the choice is never the "easy way out" of anything.
It's no one's business why someone would choose an abortion any more than it's their business for any other medical procedure.
@valerie It's all a rough process 😞
We were lucky enough not to need abortion care. But we had a couple of miscarriages while trying, and they're not an easy thing.
And that care should be *available*. We didn't happen to need it. But we don't need to add more misery to the rest of the world.
Also, do *not* miss the US health care system.
Valerie Woolard
Victoria Guido
Brandon Weaver 
Tiffany Li
Momo
Kris Hardy
Christine T
Betsy. (a muffin).
NerdGirlInVR 💜🇺🇸🌎🐘💜
Noah Gibbs