abortion

During an election season that has centered on issues of reproductive health, the Doula Project’s forthcoming Zine,

Even though in the U.S., abortion is a safe and legal option, conservative lawmakers in my state have made sure that among the hundreds of regulations restricting access to legal abortion, restricting the mere mention of it in public schools is up at the tippy top.

[CN: abortion, miscarriage, pregnancy] In determining whether to carry forward a pregnancy, we — unlike our caribou and orca relatives — can supplement biology and instinct with conscious reasoning. And we do.

[CN: abortion, death, pregnancy] Even though Catholic hospitals receive billions in taxpayer dollars, they systematically deny critical care.

The first time I felt like I had lost control of my body was over six years ago, when I found out I was pregnant. Biology and time and every facet of my human existence seemed to be working against me. I was afraid and ashamed, because I could have been smarter and more accurate with my birth control and I wasn’t too young or too dumb. I knew better. But, thankfully, there was something I could do about it.

The gynecologist said, “Congratulations!” He sent me home with some vitamin B pills, assuming that of COURSE I was going to carry this baby to term. My heart ached and I was devastated all over again — but I knew I could not support the life of a child.

I know a woman who worked in an inner-city hospital before the passage of Roe v Wade. Every week, staff there saw women come in battling massive infection or blood loss. They actually reserved beds for women like this because it was so common. The cause? Illegal, unsafe abortions. But that was then, right? That was 42 years ago, right? That doesn’t happen anymore, right? Wrong.

I didn't want to go through the experience of having an abortion. I didn't want to get pregnant in the first place. But I was grateful for the option. An option I had fought hard for to protect all women (including myself), marching on Washington, protesting at the Virginia state capital, raising money, collecting signatures. And now I had the chance to turn this unhappy experience into another piece of my own activism.