How common are some of the primary factors... (clarification)

[Pam in CT]

... that can lead to abortion? 

(Clarification based on a PM - trying to figure out how common are these types of occurrences - definitely NOT only asking those who have had abortions.)

Apparently I can only do 3 questions, and there are certainly other factors, including domestic violence and financial inability to care for a / another child. But a starting point.

 

Edited May 5, 2022 by Pam in CT

[Katy]

You may get more accurate results if you allow us to choose more than one option.  I would choose more than one option for BOTH 2&3, for example.

[Pam in CT]

11 minutes ago, Katy said:

You may get more accurate results if you allow us to choose more than one option.  I would choose more than one option for BOTH 2&3, for example.

Ah, good point. I just checked off the "multiple choice" toggle - does that do the trick?

[Pam in CT]

Yes on 2/3 factors in my own case (never had a condom failure). 

Under the language of the trigger laws in many of these states, the complications arising from my (desperately wanted late term) miscarriage would definitely have left me dead and my existing children motherless. 

(Baby too, FWIW).

[Katy]

I already took the quiz, so I can't tell.

[SKL]

I did some research re rape/abortion, and every site said 1% or fewer of abortions followed conception during rape.

[KSera]

8 minutes ago, SKL said:

I did some research re rape/abortion, and every site said 1% or fewer of abortions followed conception during rape.

Do those 1% matter? That's thousands of people affected in the US every year. To just disregard their circumstance is cruel, and that's what many of the trigger laws in place do.

[1234]

I was 3 for 3 in the poll.

I was on birth control for my pregnancies and they definitely weren’t planned. My first pregnancy was scary and I even had to ask dh to save the baby over me if it came to it. Thankfully it didn’t.

My assaults happened at ages 9 and 18. I’m actually usually very pro life for myself but even I can see where there is no way I could have added a pregnancy after either of those incidents. 

[Melissa Louise]

No high risk pregnancies, no spontaneous abortion, no bc failure, just a heck of a lot of trauma-related and trauma-causing s*x over twenty plus reproductive years. 

I would be blasted out of polite WTM society so fast if I ever told my complete truth on this topic, lol. 

[prairiewindmomma]

17 minutes ago, Melissa Louise said:

No high risk pregnancies, no spontaneous abortion, no bc failure, just a heck of a lot of trauma-related and trauma-causing s*x over twenty plus reproductive years. 

I would be blasted out of polite WTM society so fast if I ever told my complete truth on this topic, lol. 

Thank you for talking about this aspect of the issues. It needs more visibility. A woman should be able to decide for herself whether her body will be required to carry a pregnancy. Her body, her choice.

[Corraleno]

I answered yes to the first question, although technically it was neither a spontaneous miscarriage nor an on-going high risk pregnancy. I had a partial molar pregnancy in my early 20s, which had to be removed via D&C. Partial means there was some fetal tissue but it was nonviable, and would have eventually miscarried on its own, but when it was discovered I elected to have a D&C. I suppose that will be illegal in many states now, despite the fact that molar pregnancies are never viable and can be very dangerous to the mother.

[Lecka]

I answered no to all 3, but I know very well someone who had to have two D and Cs and then had a life-threatening miscarriage before a problem with her uterus was discovered.

 

I also know someone well who has had a condom break.

 

 

[Ceilingfan]

I have had four abortions. I didn't report any of them as the consequence of nonconsensual sex, for the same reason that when the obgyn asks, "are you safe at home?" you know 💯 that the correct answer is "yes, I'm safe (insert joke like "except from the toddler! Does that count?") - because the abuser is going to demand details of how you answered, and he can tell when you lie. 

 

[Ceilingfan]

Unless you're ready to leave him right that second - and in the hospital giving birth, or even at the first obgyn appointment of the pregnancy, does not, generally speaking, feel like an opportune time to leave. 

[ktgrok]

2 hours ago, SKL said:

I did some research re rape/abortion, and every site said 1% or fewer of abortions followed conception during rape.

Given that many women do not want to label what happened to them as rape, and especially do not want to admit it to another person, there is no way there are accurate statistics on that. 

No way in heck I'd have wanted to dive into that bag of worms with anyone anywhere near the time it happened. But the first rape I didn't label rape until years later. (I was passed out drunk in the bushes,  had just turned 18, and woke up to a man 10 yrs older than me or anyone else at the party having sex with me. But he stopped when I woke up and told him to stop - so in my head it wasn't rape. Cause heThe  stopped once I was conscious)

The other time I knew it was rape, but I also knew it would never been proven, and I was a single mom who didn't want any drama. If I'd needed an abortion I'd have not wanted to get into it with anyone. 

[ktgrok]

2 minutes ago, Ceilingfan said:

Unless you're ready to leave him right that second - and in the hospital giving birth, or even at the first obgyn appointment of the pregnancy, does not, generally speaking, feel like an opportune time to leave. 

Exactly. A woman in an abusive situation has been lying to others and to herself too long to speak the truth to anyone that isn't on a need to know basis. 

[ktgrok]

Meant to respond to the actual questions:

My pregnancies were not super high risk, but I had maternal hypertension the last three, plus advanced maternal age, plus was a VBAC. I was age 40 at last delivery, and had extra monitoring for the last month, going n multiple times a week for biophysical profiles, had to check blood pressure multiple times a day, rest, etc. One of my other pregnancies I had complications that were not life threatening but required me to quit my job. We could make it financially, but I know some would not be able to. 

I have been raped twice. The first time I didn't call it rape until many years later. The other one it took me a about 24 hours to come to terms with what had happened - before that I was in shock. ONly when I started journaling what had happened did I realize fully that it was rape.

I have had a condom break twice, once with each husband. When I was raped he slipped the condom off mulitple times. 

[Carrie12345]

My sister’s baby wasn’t considered at risk, but she vomited for 9 months straight. With medical treatment. And trying to work. NINE MONTHS of vomiting. In a restaurant job. 

[Melissa in Australia]

Yes to miscarriage that needed medical attention. I was 12 weeks

no to all other questions. I have only ever had one partner. Never used a condom, use other forms of contraception 

I have however been offered abortion by doctors. They seem very eager to offer it here as I know multiple people who go to the doctor for their first maternal appointment and it is one of the first questions the doctor  asks. I found it confronting/worrisome/concerning. And yes here people use abortion as a form of contraceptive. Something like 1 in 3 women have . 

[ktgrok]

10 minutes ago, Melissa in Australia said:

Yes to miscarriage that needed medical attention. I was 12 weeks

no to all other questions. I have only ever had one partner. Never used a condom, use other forms of contraception 

I have however been offered abortion by doctors. They seem very eager to offer it here as I know multiple people who go to the doctor for their first maternal appointment and it is one of the first questions the doctor  asks. I found it confronting/worrisome/concerning. And yes here people use abortion as a form of contraceptive. Something like 1 in 3 women have . 

Isn't that an expensive and painful method of contraception??

[Ceilingfan]

1 hour ago, ktgrok said:

 

Well, and if you consider hormonal contraception a potential abortifacient (that is, you think the right to life begins at fertilization), using abortion as birth control is morally no different than taking the pill. In fact, late term abortion is morally no different from the pill; partial-birth abortion no different morally from an abortion at 5 weeks, before a heartbeat. 

So I guess from that perspective, ultra prolife believers shouldn't be so strident about organ harvesting of 39 week fetuses, or whatever other atrocities they feel will sway public opinion - because to them, be definition, that is no different from using an IUD. 

And if it does seem different than using an IUD - I'd suggest they're already recognizing the gray area, if not acknowledging it.

[Melissa Louise]

2 hours ago, Ceilingfan said:

I have had four abortions. I didn't report any of them as the consequence of nonconsensual sex, for the same reason that when the obgyn asks, "are you safe at home?" you know 💯 that the correct answer is "yes, I'm safe (insert joke like "except from the toddler! Does that count?") - because the abuser is going to demand details of how you answered, and he can tell when you lie. 

 

I don't want you to feel alone. Same number. Anyone who wants to judge you comes straight through me first. 

[Melissa Louise]

What do people mean when they say women ' use it as a form of contraception' ? 

Do they mean, woman did not use contraception but chose that thinking  'it's no problem because when I get pregnant I'll have an abortion' ?

I think that's got to be uncommon. 

Mostly, I would say when you're not using contraception properly or at all it's either because you can't/denied use, or because you're a little bit f*cked up currently, or you're in deep denial of the possibility of pregnancy. Maybe there's some very deep ambivalence around pregnancy.

I never once got pregnant ( which I did at the drop of a hat) thinking 'oh, I'll abort this one'. 

[Melissa in Australia]

1 hour ago, ktgrok said:

Isn't that an expensive and painful method of contraception??

Is it ? I wouldn’t know. I have been told less painful than a miscarriage. But I would have thought same level of pain. as to expense medical is free here. 

[Melissa Louise]

Not free for my first two. 

[Melissa in Australia]

13 minutes ago, Melissa Louise said:

What do people mean when they say women ' use it as a form of contraception' ? 

Do they mean, woman did not use contraception but chose that thinking  'it's no problem because when I get pregnant I'll have an abortion' ?

I think that's got to be uncommon. 

Mostly, I would say when you're not using contraception properly or at all it's either because you can't/denied use, or because you're a little bit f*cked up currently, or you're in deep denial of the possibility of pregnancy. Maybe there's some very deep ambivalence around pregnancy.

I never once got pregnant ( which I did at the drop of a hat) thinking 'oh, I'll abort this one'. 

I personally know a few that have said, about themself,  it is no problem, if She gets pregnant  she will have an abortion like last time. To them it is a form of contraception.

 

[ktgrok]

28 minutes ago, Melissa in Australia said:

Is it ? I wouldn’t know. I have been told less painful than a miscarriage. But I would have thought same level of pain. as to expense medical is free here. 

Ah, it's quite expensive here. I mean, cheaper than having a baby but definitely a hit to the pocketbook. 

Just checked, average in 2020 was $515. Add in taking a day off work, travel costs if you have to go out of town, out of state, etc.