Ladies, We Need to Talk… Part 2: The Truth About Abortion

Ladies, We Need to Talk… Part 2: The Truth About Abortion

When the anger settles, true education can begin.

Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash

The spark that lit my fuse.

A few days ago, I came across this article. I didn’t even get all the way through it before leaving my two cents and abandoning the read about halfway through. The comments I left, like many, are displaying our anger and frustration at the religious chains the author would see bound on women regarding reproductive health and freedom. And what changed her mind had nothing to do with science or empathy.

You are welcome to read my comments. I was not kind. I also do not apologize for what I said or how I said it. And then to see this harmful message by this user in response:

I am sending out the bat signal, ladies.

I am calling on each and every one of you who has had an abortion.

Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone along the spectrum in between. I am calling on those of you who have sat beside a friend or spouse or child, holding their hand while they made that heavy choice and went through that procedure.

I am calling on the nurses and doctors who see to the patients and perform the procedures.

I am calling on the trauma therapists who have seen their clients through this difficult choice, or seen them after they’ve been gaslit, lied to, emotionally, psychologically, and religiously abused at so-called Pregnancy Crisis Centers that are nothing but insidious covers for the pro-life religious nut bags who use the most damaging tactics on the most vulnerable people to impose their own version of Evangelical Sharia Law on them.

What I’m asking of you all.

Share your stories. Share the truth to educate those still caught up with the lie.

For those who had an abortion: Take us through that moment, that decision, the emotional turmoil. What you went through with the procedure, and all that came after, in however much detail you’re willing to share it. There seems to be this belief among Pro-Lifers that you made the decision on a whim, that you would always immediately regret making it, that you did it because you wanted to have more sex, and even that you’re choosing to have it done right up until the day the baby would be born. The only way to combat the lies is with the truth.

For those who were the person’s support system: Tell us what you witnessed, the emotional impact, the physical and psychological toll, both for the person who had the abortion, and what you went through as you helped them through that decision and all that came after.

For the abortion doctors and nurses: Tell the truth about what that procedure is, how it works, and the struggle you see your patients go through having to make that decision. Spread the truth to combat the lie.

For the trauma therapists: There are two different things I need from you. First, tell us what you’ve witnessed, the emotional and psychological impact of having to make that decision, the trauma endured by those who found themselves at pregnancy crisis centers instead of true abortion clinics like Planned Parenthood, and the kind of damage that leaves behind. Tell us about the clients you’ve cared for who’ve regretted the choice to not have an abortion, the patients you’ve cared for who were the unwanted children born and how that affected them. I’ve noticed that those who are Pro-Life seem to believe that the desire to be a mother will just grow within the pregnant person alongside the fetus and that is simply not true. The second thing I ask of you is to give us all of your advice and best practices to help even the most uncomfortable parent have the abortion conversation with their children.

The more states that strip away a woman’s right to choose, or a doctor’s right to treat, the more people are going to die because they can’t get the healthcare they need. The only weapon we have is the truth.

All we have is the truth. Those who are against it have no idea what it costs to make that choice. May our voices rise where Congress and SCOTUS failed us.