Midwife: First-Trimester Ultrasounds Are Not Part of Routine Prenatal Care
In the wake of the Virginia forced transvaginal ultrasound debate in Virginia, bill supporters have tried to justify their bill by stating that ultrasounds are the “gold medal standard” of pre-abortion care. But are they?
As one midwife explains in an article on The Clinical Advisor, unless a patient presents with an issue that would have a medical practitioner suspect an ectopic pregnancy, often they aren’t used at all.
Robyn Carlisle, MSN, CNM, WHNP, full-scope midwife at University Doctors and Kennedy University Hospital in Sewell, N.J., writes:
I recently saw a patient in the office for amenorrhea, severe left-sided pelvic pain, and a positive home pregnancy test. I ordered blood work and a stat ultrasound to rule out ectopic pregnancy. When I mentioned the ultrasound, the patient balked and confided that she was uncertain whether she wanted to continue the pregnancy.
My patient felt that an ultrasound would just complicate an already painful decision to terminate the pregnancy. I explained to her that while I understood her apprehension, given her clinical presentation, we needed to ensure this was not a tubal pregnancy and move forward with the ultrasound.
Under normal circumstances in New Jersey, this patient would not have needed an ultrasound to confirm her pregnancy, especially if she was considering an abortion. Unfortunately, not all women have this choice.
…
First trimester ultrasounds are not part of routine prenatal care. Many insurance companies will not cover first trimester ultrasound without a medical indication, such as vaginal bleeding or severe pelvic pain. So why are politicians now requiring this expensive procedure for a woman who plans to terminate her pregnancy?
Despite what some prolife advocates may think, the decision to terminate a pregnancy is never an easy one. Prochoice does not mean pro-abortion. Prochoice means supporting a woman’s legal choices regarding pregnancy and her body. Requiring unnecessary ultrasounds add to the pain women experience when making an already difficult decision, but will most likely not change the decision once it has been made.
Pregnant women who show signs or symptoms of ectopic pregnancies receive ultrasounds. Not every other woman does. Why are legislators insisting that it be different for women wanting to end a pregnancy?
When legislators mandate more “care” for a woman who wants to terminate than is usually given to a woman with a wanted pregnancy, and expensive, medically unnecessary care, how can that be anything but government sanctioned coercion?
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Emphasis mine. Pregnant people, not just cis women.
I’m running out of energy on this ultrasound issue but to reiterate:
- They most often are medically unnecessary
- They’re expensive and because they must be paid for out-of-pocket people in poverty will be affected the most, making abortion more inaccessible and in some cases unobtainable.
- There is no justification for legislators to mandate the medical practices of doctors in this fashion. If an ultrasound is necessary in a particular instance for an abortion to proceed, the doctor will do one. But mandating them is nonsensical and removes all consent from the procedure.
love you for this, John Legend.
Abortion safer than giving birth: study
That statistic will only matter to you if you care about the welfare and health of actual living, breathing pregnant people. Which I do.
(Source: keepyourbsoutofmyuterus)
NC lawmaker calls for public hangings of abortion providers
Time to sing the old, tired song, “Yup, this is what pro-life looks like!”
(Source: jessicavalenti)
Ayn Rand
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This might be the only point of agreement I share with Ayn Rand on anything, but she’s absolutely spot-on with this one!
(via socialismartnature)
(Source: the-capitalist)
Hi, fetus, I am your parent
Note: This was written in reaction to the “Mommy, I am your baby” post that is currently circulating around Tumblr. Thought it was about time we hear from the person who is actually self-aware and not just the clump of cells residing inside of them.
Hi, Fetus,
My name is Bria and I am the person whose uterus you are currently residing in. I am 28 years old and I actually have beautiful brown eyes and brown hair. Like, right now. Not “will” in nine months or so, but have it currently. I already have one child. His name is Ryatt and he has my beautiful brown eyes and brown hair. He is three years old and loves Thomas the Tank Engine. You? You don’t love anything, because right now, you are really just a clump of cells that has no cognitive development. You can’t love anything. Not me, not Thomas the Tank Engine, not flowers and birdies and sunshine. You get all your sustenance from me and cannot live on your own outside of my uterus.
But enough about you, let’s talk about me. Like I already said, I am 28 years old. This puts me in the majority age range for people who get abortions. (People in their 20s account for more than half of all abortions; people aged 20–24 obtain 33% of all abortions, and people aged 25–29 obtain 24%.) Like I said, I already have one child to care for (like 61% of people who obtain an abortion) and I currently have no place of my own and am living with my mentally and emotionally abusive mother. I have no job and don’t even qualify for social services because I have not lived in the state I am currently residing in for over 3 months. This is also pretty common among people who obtain abortions - 42% have incomes below 100% of the federal poverty level and 27% have incomes between 100–199% of the federal poverty level. I am looking for a job, but the economy is tough and there is not a lot out there. It’s even tougher for me because I was forced to drop out of college due to mental health issues that I am still dealing with today. So I have no college degree, which qualifies me only for menial jobs in retail or food service. Because these jobs pay so very little, I would never be there to raise you and would have to rely on others. This would probably be a complete stranger at a second-rate daycare center, as I am unwilling to leave you with my mother, have no other family and I can’t really afford to put you in a fancy, bells-and-whistles daycare.
These are all actually pretty common reasons why people obtain abortions. Three-fourths of people cite concern for or responsibility to other individuals; three-fourths say they cannot afford a child; three-fourths say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or the ability to care for dependents; and half say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner.
Because I know when I am supposed to get my period, I knew I was pregnant almost right away. Turns out, this is pretty common, too, as over 61% of abortions are performed at less than 9 weeks from a person’s last menstrual period (which would be about 7 weeks from conception). At this point, you really have no thoughts or feelings because, remember when I said you were a clump of cells? I meant it. Those are pictures of what an abortion looks like when done between 5 and 6 weeks. Pretty stark contrast from the gory images that are normally shoved down your throat, huh, fetus?
And, fetus, while I may be a little sad after you are gone, a lot of really smart people have done a lot of really intensive studies and they have concluded that “post abortion syndrome” as a wide-spead occurrence is myth. Also, some more really smart people have assured me that abortion is pretty much one of the safest medical procedures I can undergo in the United States today and, that when performed in the first trimester, it poses little to no long-term risk to future pregnancies, should I ever decide to become pregnant again.
Fetus, as you can see, this is really the best decision for me and for the beautiful little boy who is sleeping with his arms curled around me. I want to go to school to become a sign language interpreter so I can hopefully get a place of my own and not have to rely on other people for my food and shelter. I want to provide a good, healthy, stable life for the child I already have and for any children I may have in the future. And I have thought about it a lot (because abortion is not something anyone enters into lightly) and I could not do that while caring for another child. I would apologize, but there is really nothing to apologize for. I am doing what I know in my heart is the absolute best thing for me and my son. You will not feel any pain, as you are not able to do that until about 24 weeks old, and you don’t even know you exist, so I doubt that you know that you are now gone.
Every abortion is just…
One more person exercising their right to bodily autonomy and self-determination based on what they feel is the best choice for them.
REBLOG IF YOU ARE PRO-CHOICE.
(All statistics, unless otherwise linked, have been provided by the Guttmacher Institute.)
