By Rosalie Wohlfromm
Back in 2016, I wrote an op-ed about miscarriages being misinterpreted as abortions.
A friend had told me her story about experiencing a miscarriage and then being accused by a nurse of having an abortion. She was rightfully incensed about the accusation and was still angry.
I ended my essay by wondering what would happen if indeed Roe v. Wade was overturned. Would every miscarriage be suspect? Would we be a country where women could be incarcerated when they experienced a still birth or miscarriage? This happened to women in El Salvador and other Central American countries where abortions are illegal. These women were charged with intentionally causing the death of their fetuses. Spontaneous abortions (miscarriages) happen for various reasons and are common. Health officials know this, but I guess our representatives do not.
Since the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, we have seen just what I had dreaded. Recently a 10-year-old girl had to go to another state to have an abortion. No matter that she is a child herself, her representatives would have made her give birth and possibly cause her death.
The representatives of her state at first didn’t believe a 10-year-old could get pregnant. Are they insane? I’ve known women who started menstruating at the age of 9, it’s not uncommon. I volunteered at a local Planned Parenthood years ago, and I can attest to this fact. I’ve also seen young teens who were victims of incest and of statutory rape, as their “boyfriends” were all over the age of 18. I finally stopped volunteering because I couldn’t stop railing about how these girls were being used.
I would hope we have enough respect for women to understand that she, and only she, owns her body. No one should have any say in whether she chooses to abort or not. And certainly not any of those guys in Congress who prove every day they know nothing about how a woman’s body works. According to some an ectopic pregnancy can be viable by just removing the fetus from outside the fallopian tube and reinserted. WTH!
Ladies, we must keep fighting. And I would hope the men in our lives will fight with us. We cannot lose the right most of us fought for over 50 years ago. We must talk too to our young people and remind them of how it was before Roe v. Wade. It’s too important to idly do nothing and let this ruling stand.