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