Access to Later Abortion Will Always be Needed
Abortion later in pregnancy is often misunderstood and heavily targeted through both policy and stigma. Erika Christensen, co-founder of Patient Forward and later abortion patient and advocate, Jenn Chalifoux, later abortion patient and advocate, and Dr. Diana Greene Foster, demographer and Professor at the University of California San Francisco and lead of the Turnaway Study, sits down to share their personal stories and talk with us about why access to later abortion will always be needed.
Some people—including young people, people with chronic health conditions, and people who have been recently pregnant—are late to discover they are pregnant. That means those who make this discovery later in pregnancy in states with six-week abortion bans do not have access to abortion. Further into pregnancy, costs rise, available providers decrease, and barriers to care mount. Since Dobbs, ten states have enshrined viability measures into their constitutions, and 41 states still ban abortion at some point in pregnancy. The good news? Culture is shifting—more Americans agree that legislators should not be involved in pregnancy decisions, including in the third trimester. There are also more clinics and providers for abortion later in pregnancy than there were previously, and states are continuing to repeal viability limits.
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Transcript
Jennie: Welcome to rePROs Fight Back, a podcast on all things related to sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice. [music intro]
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Learn more about Patient Forward and their work here. You can also spend some time on whonotwhen.com, a people-centered resource for understanding abortions later in pregnancy.
Storytelling is incredibly powerful. If you are comfortable with it, share your own story or the stories of others to help fight disinformation and stigma.
Abortion funds, especially those that help specifically for later abortions like the Brigid Alliance, deserve support. Find your local abortion fund here.