#80: Thoughts While Pondering Roe v. Wade

A flashback

Flashback to…

Choosing to end a pregnancy one month into my 19th year after being told that there is a high chance the baby could have problems. Could I do that without Roe?

Being raped in my early 20s and having the tampon I was wearing pushed up so far inside me I go to a Planned Parenthood clinic to have it removed.“Would you like to talk to someone?” I was too embarrassed to tell the nurse what had really happened but I’m pretty sure she knew. What if I had become pregnant?

A chosen pregnancy at age 26 with Wuzband #1 and live birth of our daughter…with problems.

The superlative care I received at age 27 in a Seattle hospital as an outpatient when I had a spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) requiring a D&C. I came home, went into the garden, bled into the broccoli, and cried.

The complete opposite experience at age 28 when returning to my hometown to care for my terminally ill mother, having a second spontaneous abortion, and needing another D&C, this time in the office where I had received pre-natal care for my daughter several years earlier…the only place that could see me on short notice. With my legs spread apart I asked, “Aren’t you going to give me anesthesia? I just had this procedure done in Seattle six months ago and was given anesthesia.” “You must have gone to an ‘abortion factory,’” was the reply. The procedure was done without anesthesia…on the doctor’s lunch hour…and payment of cash or check was required before I left the office. When I commented to the office manager that the charge was twice as much as the Seattle hospital she replied, “You’re paying for his new swimming pool, honey.” The license plate on his sports-car read BABYMAN.

Second marriage at age 32 to Wuzband #2 and a third spontaneous abortion…this time on a group kayaking expedition in Alaska. “Do you think you need to be air evacuated out?” “Let me see how the bleeding goes.” After passing whatever was inside me, the bleeding slowed down and finally stopped. I was lucky.

At age 34, a conscious conception with Wuzband #2 and birth of our son.

Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash