The woman who, with all of our help, will shortly become the 45th President changed the conversation at the Last Debate.
She spoke proudly and comprehensively about a woman's right to control her own body and her own health, including the right to decide to have an abortion- "I strongly support Roe v. Wade, which guarantees a constitutional right to women to make the most intimate, most difficult in many cases, decisions about her health care that one can imagine."
Her opponent, Donald Trump, speaking as the Born Again Right to Lifer he espouses to have become, proclaimed he would appoint SCOTUS judges to overturn Roe v. Wade.
He then went on to describe late term "partial birth" abortion this way- "In the ninth month you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby." He said it could happen "as late as one or two or three of four days prior to birth."
His inflammatory language provided further proof (if needed) of Trump's ignorance, misogyny, and willingness to spread misinformation and incite anger.
Hillary denounced him for such "scare rhetoric," proclaiming, "That is not what happens in these cases and using that kind of scare rhetoric is terribly unfortunate. "
She further said, "The kinds of cases that fall at the end of pregnancy are often the most heartbreaking, painful decisions for families to make. I have met with women who toward the end of pregnancy get the worst news one can get --that their health is in jeopardy if they continue to carry to term or that something terrible has just been discovered about the pregnancy. I do not think that the U.S. government should be stepping in and making those most personal of decisions."
Hillary's fierce and compassionate stance tells us clearly who she is and what she stands for. As President, she will draw the line to defend women.
This was a transformational moment.
Hillary did not apologize for our rights. She simply spoke for our rights.
This discussion is proof, if we need it, of Why We Need More Women in Politics.
Perhaps emboldened by Hillary's remarks, perhaps eager to embrace being called a "nasty woman," women, as well as doctors, have stepped up to speak for a woman's right to make birthing a child her choice.
Trump's horrific attitudes, behavior and language have opened many closets --Stop Body Shammers! Stop Sexists! Stop Sexual Abusers! Add to the list - Stop Opposing Our Right to Abortion!
Here are two articles with different truths on Late Term Abortions. The first article is about the complicated process that often leads to a Late Term choice to end a pregnancy. The second article is by a doctor telling what Late Term abortion really is and how and why it occurs.
A solid read. You will be glad you took the time.
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Late Term Abortion was the Right Choice for Me. by Meredith Isaksen. Reprinted from the New York Times.
BERKELEY, Calif. — I was 21 weeks pregnant when a doctor told my husband and me that our second little boy was missing half his heart. It had stopped growing correctly around five weeks gestation, but the abnormality was not detectable until the 20-week anatomy scan.
It was very unlikely that our baby would survive delivery, and if he did, he would ultimately need a heart transplant.
In the days that followed, after the poking and prodding, after the meetings with pediatric cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons and geneticists, my husband and I decided to terminate our pregnancy.
I was 22 weeks pregnant when they wheeled me into the operating room, two weeks shy of viability in the state of California.
For us, the decision was about compassion for our unborn baby, who would face overwhelming and horribly painful obstacles. Compassion for our 2-year-old son, who would contend with hours upon hours in a hospital, missing out on invaluable time spent with his parents, and the death of a very real sibling. It was about compassion for our marriage. Perhaps most important, it was about our belief that parenthood sometimes means we sacrifice our own dreams so our children don't have to suffer.
As the day of my termination approached and I felt my baby's kicks and wiggles, I simultaneously wanted to crawl out of my skin and suspend us together in time.
I wanted him to know how important he was to me, that the well of my grief and love for him would stretch deeper and deeper into the vastness of our family's small yet limitless life. He may have moved inside me for only five months, but he had touched and shaped me in ways I could never have imagined.
To Donald J. Trump and politicians like him, a late-term abortion is the stuff of '80s slasher films. "You can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother," Mr. Trump said during Wednesday night's debate, a description void of consideration for women, medical professionals or the truth. Such politicians would have you believe that women like me shouldn't get to make the choice I made. That our baby, despite his tiny misshapen heart and nonexistent aorta, should have a chance "to live," even though that life might have lasted mere minutes. Even though that life would have been excruciatingly painful.
These politicians are ignorant of the sacrifices and blessings that come with carrying a pregnancy (let alone a nonviable pregnancy).
They do not understand that a majority of women who have late-term abortions are terminating desperately wanted pregnancies.
I am fortunate to live in a state that allows abortions after 20 weeks. At least 13 states restrict such procedures; 15 more have moved to defund Planned Parenthood, where many low-income women go for reproductive care.
Many women have made the kind of difficult decision I had to make. When it happens to you, they come out of the woodwork. Friends, neighbors, colleagues.
A friend of my mother-in-law said to me early on, "You will always carry this loss, but someday, it won't define you.
"As the two-year anniversary of my abortion approaches, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that we made the right decision for our family — and that our government has absolutely no place in the anguish which accompanies a late-term abortion, except to ensure that women and their families have the right to make their choice safely and privately.Saying goodbye to our boy was the single most difficult and profound experience of my life, and the truth is, it has come to define me.
Today I am a better mother because of him. I am a better wife, daughter and friend. He made me more compassionate and more patient. He taught me to love with reckless abandon, despite the knowledge that I could lose it all.
We named him Lev, the Hebrew word for heart.
Meredith Isaksen is a poet and English instructor at Berkeley City College.
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Dear Donald Trump: I'm an OB-GYN. There are no 9-month Abortions. by Jennifer Gunter (reprinted from Vox)
At the final presidential debate, Donald Trump said doctors do abortions in the "ninth month" of pregnancy, that they "rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month, on the final day. And that's not acceptable."
I'm a doctor who was trained to do late-term abortions. I did them for five years in residency and for 10 years in practice and I have no idea what Trump is talking about. I have even practiced in states with no gestational age limit for abortions. So while I no longer perform abortions, I know much more about this subject than Donald Trump or any of his advisers can ever hope to know.
Focusing on late-term abortions is always an interesting strategy. And certainly, if one really wanted to reduce abortion, it is the wrong strategy, as only 1.3 percent of abortions happen at or after 21 weeks. We know this because the Centers for Disease Control (something you and I pay for with our federal tax dollars) conducts annual abortion surveillance. The majority of abortions, 91 percent in fact, happen before 13 weeks, and we know how to prevent most of them: easily accessible, free, long-acting reversible contraception.
Since we can't and shouldn't count on Trump for facts about abortion, let's set the record straight on later-term abortions, meaning those at or after 21 weeks. There are three reasons women seek later-term abortions: health of the mother, personal reasons, and fetal anomalies (birth defects).
Late-term abortions are rare — and women tend to seek them for three reasons
Abortions for the health of the mother only happen before 24 weeks, which is the generally accepted cut-off for fetal viability. After 24 weeks, if a pregnant person is sick enough that she needs to deliver for her health, obstetricians either induce labor or perform a C-section, and the baby is attended by the neonatal intensive care unit.
Trump would apparently have you believe, and perhaps he believes himself, that in these situations doctors do a delivery and then commit infanticide. Health of the mother abortions absolutely do happen — in circumstances of ruptured membranes with an infection or deteriorating heart disease, for example — but they happen before 24 weeks. No OB-GYN is doing third-trimester abortions for the health of the mother. We simply just practice obstetrics and deliver the baby by the most appropriate method.
A small percentage of late-term abortions (i.e., at or after 21 weeks) are for personal reasons. These procedures also don't happen in the "ninth month" or one or two days from delivery. When a woman presents for an abortion and she is past 24 weeks, she is told that she is too far along for the procedure. There is even a medical term for this — turnaways. It has been studied, so we know exactly why women present too late: difficulty finding a provider; difficulty getting to the provider, especially given that some states require multiple visits; and difficulty affording the procedure.
Only nine states and the District of Columbia allow abortions after 24 weeks without restrictions. Is it possible one or two women may have an abortion at 24 or 25 weeks in these states and it not be for the health of mother? Technically yes, but honestly I've never heard of it happening. People seem to forget when they talk about these theoretical post-24 week abortions for personal reasons that a pregnant person would need $15,000 or more in cash.
So, considering the cost of abortions, the fact that fewer than 0.3 percent occur at or after 21 weeks for non-genetic reasons, that most abortions will be before 24 weeks, and the expense of the procedure, it is simply ludicrous to insinuate that this happens regularly — never mind at all. And a "nine-month abortion" of an otherwise healthy fetus? That is just untrue.
The only type of abortion that happens anywhere near nine months is for fetal anomalies
The only type of abortion that does happen after 24 weeks is for fetal anomalies. Most abortions for fetal anomalies happen before 24 weeks, but a very small percentage happen later than that. The abortions that take place later do so because it takes time to do the ultrasounds and genetic testing. Sometimes a fetal MRI may even be needed.
Sadly, some women are lied to by anti-abortion doctors in states with gestational age limits and get their genetic testing done on the late side because the doctor wants to try to take the possibility of an abortion off the table. I have personally heard of this happening.
However, even with the most on-the-ball OB-GYN, it can still be a race to get all the information and give a pregnant person time to think it over before 24 weeks. Sometimes the drastic nature of the problem isn't fully realized until the pregnancy progresses. Other times a woman is carrying a fetus incompatible with life and thought she would go to term and let nature take its course, but then she realizes she just can't. Who among us should judge those women?
When these procedures do happen, they could be an induction of labor, or some highly skilled providers can perform dilation and extraction procedures past 24 weeks. The closer to term (40 weeks), the more likely the procedure will be an induction of labor. So at 36 or 37 weeks, in most situations, the doctor will simply induce labor and after delivery not resuscitate the baby. However, there are rare medical situations where that might not be advisable, so the option of a dilation and extraction allows women in these situations to avoid a C-section.
The facts are that 98.6 percent of abortions happen before 21 weeks. Most of the terminations at or after 21 weeks are very wanted pregnancies with serious fetal anomalies. Some are for the health of the mother and a very small percentage are for personal reasons. Almost all women who have later abortions for personal reason would have had the procedure sooner if they could have, so the very laws proposed by politicians who aim to restrict abortion (mostly under the false pretense of safety) actually lead to delays.
Donald Trump doesn't understand women and abortion, at all
I've counseled women about later term abortions. I've met with them, listened to their heartbreak, and used every ounce of my being to hold back my tears. I've comforted women and their partners sobbing about the fact their baby has no brain or can never breathe as their lungs have not developed. I've helped women figure out how to get the body of what had been a wanted pregnancy back home for burial. I've cared for women ravaged with infection at 22 or 23 weeks and sat worried by their bedside in the intensive care unit hoping that I did the abortion in time to save their life.
If Donald Trump has spent any time learning the facts and hearing the stories of women, he would know what I do: There is no "ninth-month" abortion. It's cruel to women who have walked the path of late-term abortion and it's insulting.
Jennifer Gunter is an OB-GYN and a pain medicine physician. She is the author of the book The Preemie Primer, a guide for parents of premature babies. Her website is drjengunter.wordpress.com, and she is on Twitter @DrJenGunter.
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October 22, 2016
