I Aborted a Wanted Pregnancy

My experience shows why anti-abortion measures accomplish the opposite of what they intend.

A baby grabs the writer's cheeks. The writer is smiling.

Content note: this piece contains discussion of miscarriages, abortions, and pregnancy complications.

I will start this piece by saying: abortion is healthcare. There should be no restrictions on it. Countless studies show that when access to abortion is restricted, it results in more unsafe abortions, more maternal deaths, and an increase in domestic violence. Besides all of which, as with any healthcare decision, the choice should be up to the individual and the advice of their healthcare team, not a clueless politician.

Aside from facts and studies, I wanted to share my own experience with getting an abortion. Anti-abortion laws never protect people. There’s always more nuance than laws and policy can account for.

“At conception”

Buried in the sweep of executive orders recently issued was some phrasing that caught my eye, along with the support from the president and vice president of the US at an anti-abortion rally.

“’Female’ means a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell,” wrote Trump. (Aside from being a disgusting piece of transphobia, it’s also…