Later Abortion Storytellers Respond to SCOTUS & 15 Week Abortion Ban Case
May 18, 2021—For Immediate Release
MEDIA CONTACTS:
We Testify: media@wetestify.org
Abortion Care Network: media@abortioncarenetwork.org
Spokesperson Availability:
Renee Bracey Sherman, executive director of We Testify
People who’ve had later abortion procedures
To be connected with independent clinics in the US other than Jackson Women’s Health, contact Abortion Care Network
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted Mississippi’s request to review a case challenging the state’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy; the case is being brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the last remaining abortion clinic in Mississippi.
Abortion care is legal and available in Mississippi; this blatantly unconstitutional ban will stay blocked as the Supreme Court reviews the case. Currently, independent providers, abortion funds, and practical support volunteers are already working on the ground to ensure people in Mississippi and across the United States are able to navigate the hundreds of financial, logistical, and legal barriers to abortion and ensuring that they receive supported and compassionate abortion care.
Statement from Renee Bracey Sherman, Executive Director of We Testify:
“As people who’ve had abortions, we are appalled that the Supreme Court would take up this abortion ban after a federal judge already ruled that it was blatantly unconstitutional. This abortion ban is bullshit. Everyone knows it. Since the anti-abortion legislators cannot shame us out of having abortions and many of us have found ways around their ridiculous restrictions, they’re using the full power of the Supreme Court to redefine half a century of legalization creating more avenues to criminalize our care. The majority of us who have abortions are people of color—we know what we need to thrive in this racist nation under this racist healthcare system—and it’s not more racist abortion bans. Everyone loves someone who had an abortion and it’s time that people speak out against these vindictive and merciless abortion bans that will impact every pregnant person, whether they’re seeking abortions, having miscarriages, or experiencing pregnancy complications.”
Statement from We Testify Storytellers who've had later abortion procedures:
Dr. Valerie Peterson, Texas: In 2015, when I learned I was pregnant for the third time, I was excited and surprised—my doctors had told me I couldn’t have any more children. While this was a surprise pregnancy, it was very much wanted. But, pregnancies can change in an instant. I was in the second trimester when my doctor identified that my son had a severe birth defect that meant his brain would not develop fully. My doctor explained that I could either continue to carry the pregnancy—and either my body would miscarry, or my baby would be stillborn—or I could terminate the pregnancy. But Texas, where I’d recently moved, has some of the strictest abortion restrictions in the country, and the clinic waitlist was three weeks long. I was rushed to the top, but it was still a weeklong wait and I would have days of counseling and a multi-day medical procedure. I decided to take care of me and travel to Florida where I would be able to get the abortion I needed. My plane ticket, my hotel, and my procedure cost thousands of dollars—money most people don’t just have laying around. I was lucky. The whole ordeal was infuriating and still sits with me every day.
Jessy Rosales, California: Accessing an abortion was difficult for me as a UC Riverside student – the student health center referred me to a ‘clinic’ that was booked up for weeks and turned out to be an anti-abortion crisis pregnancy center. Then, when I finally got a real appointment at an abortion clinic there were issues and delays in processing my student health insurance. All of this took time, resources, and a lot of travel and frustration when I was supposed to be studying and could have received the pill from the student health center if I'd had people supporting me through the process. I tried to get an abortion during my first trimester but was pushed into the second simply because people lied to me about my options, my insurance wouldn't cover it, and because I didn't have the money to pay for it immediately.
Seema Syed, New York: I had been married for barely a month when I became pregnant. I felt extremely stressed and scared; I didn’t know what to do. It was anything but wedded bliss and I was stressed all the time. I started seeing a lot of brown spotting when I went to the bathroom, so I went to the doctor to see what was going on. She asked if I had been stressed and I told her about the fights and that my husband was getting violent with me—she agreed that the stress wasn’t helping my body and sent me on my way. Barely a week later, more pain set in and I was rushed to the hospital. I was dilating, spotting, and going into labor; the pregnancy was determined to be high-risk and the doctors said the fetus’s chances of survival are low. I asked the doctor what my options were, and she said that because I was nearing 26 weeks, in New York, I would need to continue the pregnancy and could seek out an adoption if I didn’t want to parent. I asked about abortion, but it felt like they were ignoring my request and continued to tell me what my options were based on the assumption that I would continue the pregnancy. It was dehumanizing. Finally, a nurse gave me a referral to an abortion clinic, which I visited two days later. But I wasn’t 26 weeks, I was 28 weeks and I couldn't get an abortion in New York state. I would have to travel. It took over a week to raise the $9,000 for my abortion. I had $200 saved away and several abortion funds—the DC Abortion Fund, New York Abortion Access Fund, and a few others pitched in. Brigid Alliance paid for my bus ticket to Washington, DC, hotel room for the week, and meals. It was ridiculous that I had to travel to a different state where none of my loved ones could join me because of their own schedules in the first place. The procedure lasted over three days, but it was relaxing. I took the bus back home that Friday, the day after the final procedure day. I felt relieved. I was angry. I was stressed. I wasn’t pissed off about what I went through, but that I had to leave my state to get this done.
Bans on abortion this early in pregnancy have been unconstitutional since the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade in 1973. It is alarming that the Supreme Court has decided to take this case, given 50 years of their own clear precedent. Abortion clinics, abortion funds, people having and seeking abortions, and the advocates who support them will continue to fight tooth and nail to defend every person’s right and ability to make decisions about our bodies, lives, and futures.
Abortion bans threaten the health, rights, and lives of pregnant people, creating legal hurdles and logistic barriers with no medical or health justification. These bans and barriers—created by anti-abortion legislators with the intention to delay access to care, while limiting later abortion care—disproportionately harm Black and indigenous people, people of color, people with low incomes, young people, and other marginalized and under-resourced communities, who already face systemic and politically motivated barriers to accessing health care, bodily autonomy, and free movement. Should the Supreme Court decide in favor of the state of Mississippi, the door could be open for states throughout the country to even more severely restrict or ban abortion.
A note for editors and reporters: In your coverage please be clear to note that abortion is still legal across the United States, Mississippi’s 15-week ban is not currently in effect, and many of the anti-abortion restrictions enacted into law are not in effect. People seeking abortions should call their local provider to learn more about their state’s gestational limits and restrictions.
To minimize confusion about abortion’s legality, we are asking reporters to add this language to the bottom of their articles—similar to editors’ notes on suicide—to ensure people are given the correct medically accurate information and not subject to criminalization.
If you or anyone you know needs assistance self-managing a miscarriage or abortion, please call the M+A Hotline at (833) 246-2632, the Repro Legal Helpline at (844) 868-2812 for legal assistance, ineedana.com to find the nearest clinic or abortionfunds.org to find funding for an abortion.
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Abortion Care Network (ACN) is the national association for independent, community-based abortion care providers and their allies. Abortion Care Network works to ensure that all people are able to experience respectful, dignified abortion care. You can learn more about ACN and our members at abortioncarenetwork.org.
We Testify is an organization dedicated to the leadership and representation of people who have abortions, increasing the spectrum of abortion storytellers in the public sphere, and shifting the way the media understands the context and complexity of accessing abortion care. We Testify invests in abortion storytellers to elevate their voices and expertise, particularly those of color, those from rural and conservative communities, those who are queer-identified, those with varying abilities and citizenship statuses, and those who needed support when navigating barriers while accessing abortion care. Learn more at WeTestify.org.
