Everything's bigger in Texas, especially the fetuses!

Most people who closely follow reproductive rights in the news are already aware of the shenanigans that happened last week in the US House of Representatives, with the passage of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. While it is disappointing that it passed the House of Representatives, and that so many Republicans were willing to toe the party line in order to appease their ultra conservative constituents, this particular bill doesn't keep me up at night. Because I know that we (pro-choicers) have a firewall in the majority pro-choice US Senate and in our pro-choice President, Barack Obama.

As has been true since 2011, the true threats to reproductive freedom are happening in state legislatures. Last year, Virginia was the butt of many jokes for their proposed law which aimed to force women seeking abortion to undergo an invasive trans-vaginal ultrasound, whether their doctor felt it was necessary or not. But Virginia certainly wasn't the first (or the last) state to enact mandatory ultrasound legislation. This year, 2013, seems to be the year of the 20-week ban. Many states have passed it, and many others have tried and failed. Why a 20-week ban? Because you're not truly dedicated to the pro-life cause unless you are in favor of taking away the right from those 2% who are experiencing devastating crisis pregnancies--pregnancies with severe fetal anomalies, maternal health complications, and women whose bodies betrayed them by hiding their pregnant status until it was almost too late to do anything about it. Yes, those are the women who should be burned at the stake. The women who make the heartbreaking decision to end a much-wanted pregnancy in order to AVOID their precious babies from suffering from any pain at birth. The women who make the tortured decision to end a pregnancy they have bonded with in order to remain alive and present for their other children. And the women who for whatever reason didn't realize they were pregnant sooner, but still have the right to autonomously decide what is best for themselves.

Texas, the supposed "Big baby abortion mecca of the south," is the latest state to enlist trickery and sneaky manipulations of legislative rules to enact their restrictions on abortion. First, the Governor called a special 30-day session, normally utilized only for emergency legislation, and instructed republicans to introduce anti-choice legislation for passage. The new legislation included a 20-week ban, restrictions on the administration of medication abortion, new regulations on abortion clinics that would require them to meet the standards of ambulatory surgical centers, and a requirement that doctors who work in abortion clinics have admitting privileges in a local hospital.
All of these proposals are included in Senate Bill 5, which passed through the House despite a citizen filibuster and recent polls which show that 80% of Texans disapprove of the legislature taking up anti-abortion legislation in a special session.

SB5 will be heard by 11 AM tomorrow morning in the Senate, and the only chance for avoiding passage of the bill is if Senate democrats can delay the vote on the bill (filibuster!)and the 30-day session expires. Fingers crossed that happens. If not, my only hope is that Texans remember these unnecessary and intrusive restrictions on personal liberty the next time they go to the polls. Elections matter.

Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act of 2013

Several federal legislators have banded together and sponsored HR 1797. This bill was originally targeted at only D.C. residents, but was amended to be a nationwide ban on abortion after 20 weeks gestation.

This bill fails to show any compassion or consideration for families who find out near or after 20 weeks that their unborn baby has an anomaly. It is standard obstetrical practice to perform a fetal anatomy scan at 20 weeks gestation. Before that time, it can be difficult for doctors and ultrasound technicians to be able to clearly visualize fetal anatomy in order to make a diagnosis. Also, many anomalies (chromosomal or not) require follow-up testing in order to make a definite diagnosis, which can take several weeks to complete. Putting a ban on abortion at 20 weeks will force many families to either, A) Carry a pregnancy to term with a serious anomaly, resulting in large financial, physical, and emotional hardship, or B) force families to abandon additional diagnostic testing and interrupt pregnancies before they know for sure how serious their baby's condition may be.

Supporters of this bill point to the horrors of Dr. Kermit Gosnell and the substandard care he provided to low-income women in his clinic in Philadelphia as a reason for this ban. Dr. Gosnell took advantage of low-income women who felt they had no where else to go to obtain later abortion care. Those women didn't end up in Dr. Gosnell's clinic because of lax abortion laws. They ended up there because, A) other abortion providers in their area were charging much more than they could afford, B) other abortion providers in the area were not willing to perform procedures due to the advanced gestational age, or C) the women were tricked into believing that the care they'd receive safe and appropriate care at Gosnell's clinic.

What happened at Gosnell's clinic was horrific, unsafe, and unacceptable. He put women's lives and health in serious danger, and he did not show compassion to the moms or the unborn babies who ended up in his clinic. His clinic does not represent the vast majority of clinics (and abortion providers working out of hospitals) which provide safe, quality abortion care in sanitary environments with an infinitely low risk of complications.

The Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act will not prevent doctors like Gosnell from subverting the law or ignoring accepted medical practices. But it will make it more difficult for women to obtain the abortion care they need post-20 weeks gestation. If doctors in good-standing who follow the law and accepted medical practices are not allowed to provide abortions post-20 weeks, where do you think the women who get poor prenatal diagnoses after 20 weeks will go for abortion care? Birth defects and chromosomal anomalies will not stop occurring, and women will not cease to believe that interrupting a doomed pregnancy is their best option. This law will create a niche for doctors like Gosnell who are willing to ignore the law in order to provide later abortion care. This law will create more harm, and more pain to families, not less.

It's been a crazy year since I last updated here.

I apologize for the delay in updating this blog. I'm not even sure where to start. So many state legislatures around the U.S. have been passing (or attempting to pass) legislation which will most directly affect those who terminate for medical reasons. These new laws will chip away at abortion rights by imposing gestational limits of 12 weeks after a woman's last menstrual period (Arkansas) or as early as 6 weeks after a woman's last menstrual period (North Dakota). I'm sure the ultimate goal of these laws is not to tie the hands of women who find themselves facing a fetal anomaly, but to get a case before the Supreme Court so Roe v. Wade can be re-assessed and possibly overturned. Fortunately, some people have stepped forward with stories of having to terminate a pregnancy past these new limits, and the impact not having had that choice would have had on their family. In the coming days I will try to catch up and post some of their stories here.

Another brave mom shares her story.

In response to the barrage of anti-choice legislation that has come out of state legislatures this year, more and more women are stepping forward and sharing their very painful stories of interrupting pregnancies due to fetal anomalies. And here is another courageous woman warrior willing to share her story for the greater good.

I don't understand how anyone can read a story like this one, and then support legislation which will take this choice away from parents. So much for personal liberty and a right to privacy.

Different year, but the same story.

My apologies for taking almost a year to update this blog. But with state legislators only actually working a few months a year (lucky dogs), not a whole lot happens in the summer and fall.

So here we are, 2012, and just like last year, legislatures around the U.S. are introducing beaucoup anti-choice measures. My home state of Virginia is no exception.

So far, there have been 8 or so anti-choice bills introduced in Virginia. There are those that require mandatory ultrasounds before an abortion, a bill that gives personhood status to fertilized eggs (thus banning all abortion and some forms of birth control), a bill banning abortion at or after 20 weeks gestation (except in cases of rape, incest, or life of the mother), a bill to repeal the state's Medicaid funding for low-income women who experience a pregnancy with a fetal anomaly, and a bill to ban insurance companies participating in the yet-to-be-formed insurance exchange from covering abortion.

You can read more about the nationwide war on reproductive rights here.

Each and every one of these proposed laws is heartless, cruel, and completely unneccesary. Will any of these bills create jobs? Will any of them help to pull the lower and middle-class families out of their financial difficulties? Will any of these bills help with the housing crisis?? No, no, and NO!!

I urge everyone reading this to contact your state legislators and urge them to focus their efforts on issues that really impact their constituents--jobs, housing, the economy, etc. These right-wing attacks on women's reproductive health are merely a distraction. These legislators don't have an answer for how to help the jobless and those struggling financially, so they are instead focusing on something they think they CAN control--women's bodies. And they are using propaganda like television ads during the Superbowl to try to gain momentum and support.

If you are pro-choice, please get involved. Exercise your right as a citizen and let your voice be heard. E-mail or call your legislators and let them know that you are pro-choice and you vote.

Speaking out against "late term abortion" bans

Several state legislatures held hearings this week concerning proposed bans on abortions after 20 weeks.

In Minnesota, Alicia Hemple shared her story of terminating her much-wanted pregnancy due to a diagnosis of Trisomy 18.

In Kansas, Tiffany Campbell shared her agonizing decision to terminate one twin due to Twin-to-Twin transfusion syndrome.

In Washington, D.C. last month at two separate press conferences with pro-choice legislators, two women courageously shared their stories of interrupting planned and wanted pregnancies due to severe fetal anomalies. Dana Weinstein shared the story of her baby girl who was diagnosed in utero with agenesis of the corpus callosum and polymicrogyria. Mary Vargas tearfully shared her story of interrupting her pregnancy of her baby boy due to Potters syndrome.

All of these women deserve to be commended for bravely sharing their personal and heartbreaking stories to fight against anti-choice attacks. I know from personal experience how difficult it is to share such a personal and painful story in front of a group of strangers, not to mention lawmakers. But in the end, the more women who speak out and share these controversial decisions, the less stigma society will place on them, and the more those anti-choice politicians will know that we won't lie down and roll over while they strip us of our rights.

The people 20-week abortion bans really impact

Danielle and Robb Deaver of Grand Island, Nebraska shared their story of being legally prevented from terminating their pregnancy with their baby who wasn't expected to survive due to underdeveloped lungs. After Danielle's water broke at 22 weeks, she was unable to replenish and sustain her amniotic fluid. Danielle and her husband then asked her physician if she could terminate the pregnancy--both to preserve her own health (by avoiding the risk of infection) and to prevent their unborn baby girl from suffering at birth due to the lack of fluid. Read the rest of their heartbreaking story here.

Dr. Carhart to open three new clinics

Nebraska doctor Leroy Carhart, who was a close friend and associate of Dr. George Tiller, has announced that he plans to open three new abortion clinics which will provide abortion services to women past 20 weeks gestation. A recent law passed by the Nebraska legislature prevents abortions past 20 weeks in that state.

The new clinics are slated to be opening soon in Indiana, Iowa, and in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, and will operate under the banner of the Carhart Centers forSexual and Reproductive Health.

This is great news for women who will be facing a poor prenatal diagnosis and considering termination. Right now, there are only a small handful of places, scattered around the United States, which will help a woman seeking an abortion past 24 weeks. Prenatal testing doesn't always allow a woman before that time to know with certainty that there is a major problem with the development of the fetus. This results in many women being forced to travel halfway across the country to obtain a legal and safe medical procedure, which she should have been able to access in her own community.

Thank goodness for doctors, like Leroy Carhart, who are willing to do whatever is necessary to ensure that women have easier access to a safe and legal procedure. As long as Mother Nature keeps creating babies with serious anomalies, and families can legally exercise their free will in deciding whether or not to bring these babies into the world, there will always be a need for pregnancy termination after 20 weeks. There's no reason to make it logistically impossible for these devastated families.

Edited to add: Starting Monday, December 6, 2010, Dr. Carhart will begin offering his services to women out of the Germantown Reproductive Health Services practice in Germantown, MD.

The Assassination of Dr. Tiller

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow narrates a new documentary investigating the assassination of Dr. George Tiller and the possible connections between his convicted killer, Scott Roeder, and extremist pro-life groups.
Three brave women, who were patients of Dr. Tiller, shared their stories for the documentary. All three went to Dr. Tiller because their babies were diagnosed with severe anomalies. I'd like to say thank you to those brave women for allowing us to here some of their stories and to feel some of their pain.

This man did what so many of us have dreamed about...

Below is a video of a heartbroken dad named Aaron Gouveia who confronted some protesters in front of an abortion clinic. He and his wife were there because their baby had been diagnosed with a severe fetal anomaly and they decided to interrupt the pregnancy. Listen as this courageous dad gives the clueless protesters a glimpse into his world...




And here is a blog post from Aaron on The Good Men Project.

Good for you, Dad!

Abortion on television

I read this article while waiting for my turn at the dentist's office this morning. It's about how more and more scripted television shows are adding storylines about abortion. The most fascinating part is that the episodes are not overly dramatized and aren't resulting in a deluge of hatemail to the producers of the shows.

Is abortion no longer too taboo for tv?

Thank you Warren Buffett!!

This article doesn't really concern terminations for medical reasons, but it is such a fantastically optimistic look at abortion care in the future that I thought I'd share it here.

And a huge THANK YOU to Warren Buffett and his late wife Susan Thompson Buffett for giving so generously and caring so much about pro-choice causes.

The New York Times - "The New Abortion Providers"

This Memorial Day, remembering Dr. Tiller ...

The premise of Memorial Day is to remember those who died in military service for our country. This Memorial Day, I will be remembering a very special Navy veteran who died after providing much-needed and hard-to-find specialized care to thousands of American women. He did so despite constant threats to his own life and those around him. He bravely continued on, even after being shot in both arms.

He never gave up on women, and we should never give up on continuing his mission--to ensure that women have access to legal and safe abortions. The best tribute we can make to Dr. Tiller this Memorial Day is to bravely speak out and share our pro-choice views, commit to electing pro-choice legislators, and most of all, TRUST WOMEN.

Nebraska, Kansas, Virginia, etc. State legislatures with too much time on their hands.

Recently there has been a flurry of activity in various state legislatures to impose new restrictions on abortion access and insurance coverage for abortion.
Let's start with Kansas, the state where Dr. George Tiller courageously practiced for decades, helping women in the most desperate of circumstances to end much-wanted pregnancies. That was until he was murdered last May. For many years, the Kansas legislature, with the help of the Kansas Attorney General, has been trying to impose new restrictions on what some call "late term abortion." Time and time again, for one reason or another, these bills have failed to pass. Recently, the legislature attempted to pass a bill which would have required doctors to report to the state the exact medical diagnosis for fetuses from abortions performed after 21 weeks. Thankfully, the Governor of Kansas vetoed this blatant violation of privacy.

In Virginia, the Governor recently slipped an amendment into the annual budget which would eliminate Medicaid coverage for abortions due to fetal anomaly. I suppose he assumed that the pro-choicers of Virginia would be so distracted by the victory of the first pro-choice license plate being available that they wouldn't notice the little Medicaid amendment he snuck into the budget. As someone who has terminated due to fetal anomaly and who knows how much it costs to have an abortion well into the 2nd trimester, I find this amendment shameful. As if being told your much-wanted baby is seriously ill and likely won't make it isn't devastating enough, now the poorest of Virginia's women will have to choose between paying out of pocket for a termination (which can be anywhere from $500 up to $15,000) or carrying to term and hoping that God/nature doesn't allow their baby to suffer at birth too much. Again, this is just shameful, Governor McDonnell!

And now to Nebraska, where the state legislature recently passed a bill which prevents abortion after 20 weeks, even if the mother is suicidal, on the mistaken presumption that fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks. This bill is unconstitutional and will not stand. The Supreme Court has already declared that the state does not have an interest until VIABILITY. VIABILITY does not = 20 weeks gestation. But the real point of this bill is to stop Dr. Leroy Carhart from bravely helping women to end tragic pregnancies, many of whom would have gone to Dr. Tiller had he not been killed last May. While technology and prenatal testing have made dramatic improvements over the past two decades, there are still many women who don't find out until their "routine" 20 week ultrasound that there is a problem with the fetus. If laws like this one in Nebraska are allowed to stand, women will forced to flock to Colorado or New Mexico or whereever the next clinic opens up to provide a refuge to these heartbroken moms.

Here's a great article written by a mom in Nebraska who terminated due to fetal anomaly.

Blog for Choice Day 2010

The question asked for this year's Blog for Choice Day is what does the phrase "Trust Women," a phrase Dr. George Tiller used as a sort of motto before he was murdered last May, mean to you.

Abortion is a decision that NO woman undertakes lightly. Regardless of the circumstances which led to her considering abortion, no woman wants to be in that situation. Abortion is not an activity found on one's to-do list, life's goals list, or bucket list. No one wakes up in the morning and thinks "I've been meaning to see what abortion is like. I think I'll have one today." No one says to their friend over lunch, "You should try abortion sometime. It's really cool." And no one embarks upon a planned pregnancy thinking "The baby might be seriously deformed."

When women find themselves in the situation of considering an abortion, it is with reluctance and fear that they proceed to find out more about their options.

I found myself considering an abortion in 2003. I was a married, stay-at-home mom, pregnant with my much-wanted and planned second baby. A 20 week ultrasound revealed severe defects which prevented my baby's lungs from developing. My first instinct wasn't "Can I get an abortion," it was "Do I really have to carry this doomed pregnancy for four more months?" The fact that ending my pregnancy early, the most humane option available for all concerned, would have been an "abortion" never occurred to me until two days later. In the days following the diagnosis I spent endless hours on the computer, searching for information about the condition, treatment options, and survival rates. I read articles in medical journals and online blogs. I joined online communities for parents who had faced the same diagnosis. I joined online communities for parents who had made the heartbreaking decision to interrupt their pregnancy due to a poor prenatal diagnosis. I called my OB/GYN with questions. I called my perinatologist with questions. I poured my heart out to family and friends, hoping that one of them would be able to tell me what the right thing to do was. I sought out a second opinion from a second perinatologist. I made a mental list of all of the circumstances which made me lean toward continuing the pregnancy (my Catholic upbringing, the unknown outcome) and those which made me lean toward terminating the pregnancy (the lack of local family support, the financial implications, the impact on my 2-year-old, the suffering my unborn baby would have endured). And finally, after much contemplation, decided to trust my initial instinct and terminate the pregnancy.

I am so thankful to have had access to so much information and opinions. But despite all of the assistance I received, the decision to terminate ultimately came from inside of me. Women who search their heart know what the right path is. They know which choice will leave them with the most amount of peace and the least amount of regret. And only they know of the specific life circumstances which make them lean one way or the other.

We can and should continue to assist women with medically accurate information and honest opinions. But in the end, we need to trust women to make these critical decisions on their own. Every woman's situation is unique. And since we can't walk in their shoes, we shouldn't try to make these monumental decisions for them. Trust them.

Where do we go from here?

With healthcare reform now in peril, the question becomes "Where do we go from here?" If reform fails completely, we'll be back to the status quo. The status quo meaning that millions of lower-income and middle-income women will continue to face obstacles to obtaining safe and legal medical procedures. I suppose it could be worse. We could be watching the President sign the Affordable Health Care for America Act of 2009 with the Stupak amendment in it, right? That would be bad. This, this is just a setback. Time to regroup and reflect.

The Stupak Amendment must go!

Saturday evening, the House of Representatives passed an Amendment, sponsored by Democratic Representatives Bart Stupak (MI) and Joe Pitts (PA), to the House Health Care bill. This Amendment, which passed by a vote of 240-194, will result in the elimination of insurance coverage (both public and private) for any abortion other than those done to save the mother's life, or as a result of rape or incest.
This amendment, if it remains in full or in large part in the final bill, will hit those women who terminate for medical reasons particularly hard.
Prenatal testing has made great advances over the past 30 years, with women sometimes being able to find out as soon as 11 or 12 weeks that something is seriously wrong with their unborn baby. However, most women don't find out something is seriously wrong with their baby until they are well into their 2nd trimester. Add onto that the time it takes to get second and third opinions, definitive diagnostic testing, and the agonizing process of decision-making and you are looking at many women not knowing they will be terminating until they are close to 24 weeks (if not later). Terminations at this late stage can cost anywhere from $2000 to over $10,000, depending on the gestation and the type of procedure.
I've come across several women over the years who, for one reason or another, didn't have insurance coverage for their terminations. Making the decision to terminate is tortuous enough, but having to then re-tell one's devastating story over and over again, usually to complete strangers, in order to arrange for payment is insulting. Most women were able to scrounge up the money needed by asking friends and family members for loans, by calling their credit card companies to ask for credit limit increases, by searching out other medical facilities with the hope that one of them would be less expensive, and by having to negotiate a billing schedule with hospital billing clerks.
Asking women, who are already heartbroken and devastated by having to say goodbye too soon to their much-wanted and much-loved babies, to also magically come up with thousands of dollars out-of-pocket in order to obtain a legal and common medical procedure, one which has been covered by many insurance companies for YEARS, is just adding insult to injury. The Stupak Amendment is completely unneccesary and needs to go.

The blurred line between fiction and real events

Last Friday, NBC aired an episode of "Law & Order" which involved a supposedly fictitious story of a late-term abortion provider being murdered in his church. Sound familiar? Obviously, the episode was based on the story of Dr. George Tiller who was murdered in his church last May. But being that "Law & Order" is a Hollywood production, the line between fiction and reality was horribly blurred throughout the course of the episode. What was left was an obviously biased and UNrealistic view of the work Dr. Tiller committed himself to, and the heartbreak felt by his patients who more often than not had no where else to turn. Here are some fantastic reviews of the episode:

Salon.com - "Law & Order's Anti-Choice Propaganda"

RH Reality Check - "Dr. Tiller Murdered Again by NBC's Law & Order"

Women & Hollywood - "Law and Order Episode Imparts No 'Dignity" for Women"

Ms. Magazine - "No Dignity for NBC"

RH Reality Check - "The 'Law and Order' Abortion Disaster and the Wasteland of TV"

Huffington Post - "Misremembering Dr. Tiller: How Law & Order Got it Wrong"

Here is a sample letter from NOW where you can voice your concerns to NBC over this poorly produced and written episode - "Tell NBC to Stop Showing Propaganda Regarding Abortion Rights for Women!"

It's clear the writers and producers of this episode have never themselves faced a tragic pregnancy with a poor prenatal diagnosis. They are blessed that way, I suppose. But for them to take that ignorance and try to shove it down our throats is insulting, offensive, and hurtful to those of us who have experienced a pregnancy with a poor prenatal diagnosis.

"Our Heartbreaking Choices" wins 2009 Best Books award!

USA Book News recently announced the winners of the National "Best Books 2009" awards, and "Our Heartbreaking Choices," a book where 46 women shared their stories of interrupting a much-wanted pregnancy, won in the Women's Issues category! We're raising awareness, one step at a time.

Best Books 2009 results

DeMarcus Ware and wife share about their termination for medical reasons

ESPN recently aired a segment where DeMarcus Ware (a linebacker with the Dallas Cowboys) and his wife bravely shared their story of making the difficult decision to interrupt a pregnancy due to a poor prenatal diagnosis in 2006. I commend the Ware's for having the courage to speak up about such a controversial subject. They certainly didn't have to share all the details with ESPN, but they did, and in doing so they have given a voice to all of us who have made the same devastating decision. I'm sure their angel Omar is very proud of them.

ESPN Video