“I had the procedure done at 21 weeks of pregnancy because it was the earliest it could be scheduled after finding out that the fetus had cystic fibrosis. It was the earliest it could be scheduled, even though I made the decision 3 weeks prior to the procedure. I had the the abortion on May 28, 2019, a time in this country where abortion rights were being threatened and taken away left and right. The attack on women from the right wing politicians and right wing churches was the catalyst calling women of all ages and backgrounds back into the streets. I too marched, with my comrades and party (PSL) a week prior to my abortion. I took my two-year-old to that protest and marched with them in my arms so tight. During that march I had so many thoughts and emotions because I hoped that this fight would continue to raise consciousness, defend, and demand women’s right to abortion for my child’s future. It is 2019 and there we see that there is a need to never go back and take it further to demand what we know all women, working class and poor women deserve. We demand free, safe, legal abortions.
I don’t regret my abortion. I know it was the best decision for myself, my partner, and my 2 year old. Although, I wish my circumstances were different and that I was able to have a healthy baby, that was not going to be the case. The baby would have grown up in the richest country in the history of this world, and would have lacked healthcare to treat their disease. A disease that has no known cure. The baby would’ve grown up not with scarcity of healthcare, but with no accessibility to it. That is the real crime and the real circumstance for working class and poor people. The real crime is the picture that pro-life and right-wingers paint and their actions when they confront women with bloody fetus posters and attack clinics and abortion providers. Their pro-life stance is a lie and is not a solution to any social ill- like lack of healthcare, food, housing, education, and more.
While I was in the dilation process of the abortion, I watched and listen to the news of the continued attacks on abortion rights. There are 6 states that have 1 abortion clinic left in their entire state. The day of my abortion, Missouri was fighting to keep their only abortion clinic’s doors open by fighting for their licensure. The day of my abortion, Justice Clarence Thomas implied “the right to abortion is not in the constitution,” setting the stage for other right wing justices to try to back track on Roe v. Wade. The day of my abortion, Illinois, the state I was in, was voting to uphold current abortion rights. The day of my abortion, the Supreme Court sided with part of an Indiana law that makes women dispose of the fetus as if it was a human, adding thousands of dollars of cost and emotional pain to every person that makes this very hard decision. The day after my abortion, Louisiana’s Democratic Governor signed into law denying women an abortion starting at 6 weeks of pregnancy. This is not a Democrat or Republican issue because they serve the same interest and that is to oppress women and continue the attacks on women’s rights.
If I had happened to have moved or been born in one of these 6 states I would have to carry to term a baby that I knew would be unhealthy. This is the reality of the times during my abortion. We won’t go back, we will fight back!”
– Ana S., Chicago, IL
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