Dear Anti-Abortion Activists

Dear anti-abortion activists,

Have you ever sat with someone and told them that their 17 week fetus has no heartbeat? Have you ever sat with someone who, in the 20th week of their pregnancy, the standard time for an anatomy scan, is diagnosed with non-survivable anomalies?

Have you ever tried to wade through the myriad of emotions with someone suffering from a third-trimester fetal demise and tried to discuss the options of care with them, still pregnant — with a fetus remaining in their uterus?

Do you realize that you have taken safe and effective care away from them? That you have put their literal lives in danger? That not only the pregnant people but also the clinicians who provide care for them will have to literally fear for their lives and their safety?

Honestly, I want to know.

I want to understand. I want to hear what you think, how you think, and why you think this is OK.

Truly. Help me understand. Because all I have right now are tears and rage.

If you think this won’t otherwise impact clinicians who do not provide abortion or reproductive care, think again. This is frightening, Minority-Report-level stuff which can, and will, be wielded inappropriately, as miscarriages that deliver spontaneously can still be inappropriate investigated as medical abortions: https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/issue-brief/understanding-pregnancy-loss-in-the-context-of-abortion-restrictions-and-fetal-harm-laws/

Nonetheless, I will continue to “aid and abet” people seeking safe and federally legal and protected health care. I will continue to support those seeking such care as well as those providing such care. Abortion care is healthcare, regardless of the reason. Uteruses are not public property. People with uteruses and the people who care for them and provide clinical care for them should not have to fear for their personal safety due to government interference in these health care decisions.