Published this morning on LiveAction by Theresa Bonopartis, Director of Lumina. There are also important links within the article. Extended excerpt below, but hit the link for the full very important article.
Sen. Brad Hoylman, from Manhattan, told the story of a woman named Erica, who he said was inconvenienced when she had to travel out-of-state to have a late-term abortion. Hoylman argued that New York owed Erica an apology for forcing her to look out-of-state to find legal third-term abortions.
READ: Third trimester abortions: more common than you think
Over the years, I have worked with a number of couples who experienced late termination due to an adverse diagnosis. Not surprisingly, Tuesday’s vote brought up much pain for them. One woman, “D,” wrote me the following in the hope that I could get her voice out there:
This past week has been horrendous for me and so many others. Watching people, especially women, celebrate a law that makes abortion legal to the very moment of birth has been heartbreaking. Unfortunately, I know from firsthand experience that late term abortion is anything but responsible care for women. I would like to leave the babies aside for the moment and only speak for women.
Twenty years ago, I had a late-term abortion at 36 weeks gestation. I had found out only two weeks prior to the abortion that my baby was severely ill and would possible die soon after birth and if she lived would be disabled and would need multiple surgeries and would never walk, talk, or have a good quality of life. This was the basis of the recommendation from the doctors to abort. I was in shock and my mind reeled upon hearing these dire predictions. I was so very vulnerable and looked to the medical professionals to help me. Instead I was pressured to abort at that late date! I had to travel out of state and had to make a decision within two days. Never once was I counseled about how I could have my baby and help her at all. Never once was I encouraged to speak with other parents of disabled children for support. It wasn’t even an option for these doctors. Pro-choice? I think not! I wasn’t given a choice, not really. “This is what you need to do” is what I was told.
Fast forward twenty years and I am still devastated by this. Saying I regret allowing these so-called health care providers to push me to do the unthinkable is an understatement. It took me a long time to come to terms with it all. I have heard a politician clamoring for an apology to a woman who had to travel out of state for an abortion. He said we owe her an apology for not having this savagery available here in NY [at the time]. I too had to travel out of state for an abortion, and I too would like an apology.
I would like for the doctors to apologize to me for pushing me to do something without knowing any of the risks to myself, to my future fertility. I would like an apology from the doctors for convincing me that my daughter’s life was worthless. I would like an apology because I was bullied by those who were supposed to care for me and my baby. They failed us both and it has caused me unmeasurable grief and heartache. How dare all of these politicians, doctors, and pro-choice advocates speak about caring for women! I am a woman and I feel abandoned. -D
Her experience is not unique. Contrary to what Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Yonkers Democrat would like us to believe, this bill had nothing to do with women’s health. “We’re saying here in New York, women’s lives matter. We’re saying here in New York, women’s decisions matter,” Stewart-Cousins said.
Sadly, Stewart-Cousins is either ignorant when it comes to why people often abort, or she does not really care about women and the harm abortion causes them.
The politicians do it for THE VOTE!
Posted by: Anne Brasino | February 04, 2019 at 10:42 AM