The Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey was yet another national tragedy we are living through.
Hospitals and medical associations across the United States reacted to the decision by calling attention to the consequences it will have on historically marginalized communities such as Black, Indigenous, disabled, and LGBTQ populations. Sixteen healthcare organizations responded in dismay and condemned the ruling including The American Nurses Association, The American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The American Academy of Pediatrics, and more.
We very much align with the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology (however, they do use very gendered language) and believe that abortion is health care for every body, and this decision is beyond dangerous.
Induced abortion is an essential component of women’s health care. Like all medical matters, decisions regarding abortion should be made by patients in consultation with their health care providers and without undue interference by outside parties. Like all patients, women obtaining abortion are entitled to privacy, dignity, respect, and support.
Many factors influence or necessitate a person’s decision to have an abortion. They include, but are not limited to, contraceptive failure, barriers to contraceptive use and access, rape, incest, intimate partner violence, fetal anomalies, illness during pregnancy, and exposure to teratogenic medications.
Pregnancy complications, including placental abruption, bleeding from placenta previa, preeclampsia or eclampsia, and cardiac or renal conditions, may be so severe that abortion is the only measure to preserve a women’s health or save her life.
Where abortion is illegal or highly restricted, women resort to unsafe means to end unwanted pregnancies, including self-inflicted abdominal and bodily trauma, ingestion of dangerous chemicals, self-medication with a variety of drugs, and reliance on unqualified abortion providers. Today, approximately 21 million women around the world obtain unsafe, illegal abortions each year, and complications from these unsafe procedures account for approximately 13% of all maternal deaths, nearly 50,000 annually.
Sound health policy is best based on scientific fact and evidence-based medicine. The best health care is provided free of political interference in the patient-physician relationship. Personal decision-making by women and their doctors should not be replaced by political ideology.
One of the most effective community care actions you can take is donating to your local abortion fund. These resources stay on the ground and support pregnant people and accessing healthcare services.
Mountain Area Abortion Doula Collective (MAADCO)
Carolina Abortion Fund
