My first pregnancy ended in heartbreak. When I was 12 weeks along, an ultrasound proved my husband’s and my worst fear: Our baby had died.
Because I never passed the fetus, I needed a D&C (dilation & curettage) to avoid developing sepsis. A D&C is the exact procedure as obtaining an abortion, so I was “lucky” this happened when Roe v. Wade was in effect and that I live in a state that protects abortion access. Roughly 20 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage, and right now, women in abortion-restricted states are having their health, their fertility and their lives threatened because doctors are naturally afraid of the legal consequences (including imprisonment) in providing D&Cs.
I’m encouraging you to vote for pro-choice candidates because of my story; because you, lawmakers and I can never know how desperate a pregnant woman is and why she’d want to terminate her pregnancy; because lawmakers can never write laws for every pregnancy complication or condition; and because of the approximate 20 percent of pregnant women who’ll need the kind of health care I got. (I actually miscarried twice and needed a D&C twice.)
Put simply, abortion care is health care.
