The Safe Abortion Project

The other day, Steph Herold (founder of IAmDrTiller.com) released the Safe Abortion Project, a response to the recent Kermit Gosnell case. The message is clear: women deserve better than Gosnell and there are not nearly as many Gosnells in abortion care as antis would like you to think.

Women went to Gosnell's clinic for a reason. Some went to him because he was less expensive. Others went to him because it allowed them to dodge restrictive abortion laws. Some simply did not know about the awful conditions at the clinic. One of the clinic workers in the video makes a great point; had this been any other kind of medical facility, people would know not to go there. Why? Because with (almost) any other type of surgery or treatment, people will freely speak about their experiences. If a person has a bad experience at a clinic, they will tell people. They will go to their friends, their family, and even the internet to get the message out that you should not go to this clinic. This is not true for abortion. Women are shamed into silence. Women do not feel welcome to tell their friends, family, and the internet about their positive or negative abortion experiences if they please. Abortion is one of the most common medical procedures, yet no one speaks of it.


I implore Herold and the other people who are working on this project. Not only will this project raise awareness that most providers are not like Gosnell, but it will also help women find safe clinics to receive abortion care so they do not end up in the same position that Gosnell's patients were. The six principles of the Safe Abortion Project really say it all:

1. Historically, women will do whatever it takes to end a pregnancy they feel they cannot carry to term, including risk their lives.
2. If full insurance coverage for abortion were available, poor women and girls would not have to settle for the least expensive medical care.
3. Until abortion services in the United States are fully accessible to poor women, women will be vulnerable to those who seek to exploit their poverty with unsafe practices.
4. In a nation where more than 1 in 3 women will have an abortion at some point in her life, the culture of silent shame that surrounds the decision to end a pregnancy allows those who would provide poor quality and sometimes dangerous care to thrive.
5. Until abortion services are affordable and accessible to all women who need care, women will continue to be vulnerable to exploitation and harm by those who offer substandard, dangerous care.
6. Strict laws limiting women and girls’ safe access to abortion care does nothing to protect women.

Thank you so much, Steph, for doing this!

A Fallen Hero

Last Friday, abortion provider Dr. William Harrison of Arkansas died of Leukemia.


It always hurts when an abortion provider dies. I didn't know Dr. Harrison personally, but my heart breaks when I think of all of the people he left behind. He left behind not only friends and family, but so many women as well. Now it's just that much harder for women in that area to access abortion, now it's one more roadblock for women seeking abortion.


I burned a candle and prayed for Dr. Harrison the other day. I took my moment of silence, and it'd be great for other people to do the same. However, let a moment of silence be just that- a moment. After that moment of silence, be loud and be active, because I'm sure that's what would make our fallen heroes proud. No one will ever take Dr. Harrison's place as a unique member of society, but we can do something, and that's what I'm asking of you. Let's do something to bring reproductive justice to America. Let's make our fallen heroes and our heroes still standing proud.

My Abortion Dream

Recently, I've been having a lot of dreams. Some are normal, some are weird, some are depressing, some are interesting and meaningful, some are very happy. A few of my dreams have really stuck out to me. One dream I've had recently has been about abortion.

In my abortion dream, I was a probably about 14 or 15 years old. I was pregnant, terrified, and my parents were planning on forcing me through the pregnancy, leaving me with no options whatsoever. I was absolutely desperate to get an abortion, but I had no way to access one. However, I found a way to get out of the house and find a clinic. It was a very small, cramped, cozy, clinic with a warm, welcoming staff. I entered the clinic, in tears, begging for help. I had no money. I was required to tell my parents before I got an abortion (parental notification laws), but I knew I couldn't. I didn't even make an appointment. But I needed help, and the abortion clinic workers could see that. One of the nurses told me that I could have my abortion, and my parents would never have to know. She took me to a waiting room, where there were a lot of other girls and women waiting to terminate their pregnancies. They were happy, making jokes, and they immediately welcomed me into their group. They calmed me down and dried my tears, and when it was my turn to have an abortion, they accompanied me to the surgical room (yeah.. all of them. It was a dream, okay? :-p)

Then, I met the doctor. He was elderly with whitish gray hair, and he had the sweetest smile in the world. He was the most loving person I had ever met. He had a certain aura to him that reminded me of a kind, loving grandfather. He introduced himself and asked me if I felt okay and wanted to do this. I said yes. He then performed the abortion on me. It was completely pain-free, physically and emotionally. Immediately after it was done, I was reminded that I had no money to pay him. I started freaking out again, and he calmed me down by saying "Don't worry. I have it covered". My dream ended shortly after that.

Normally, my dreams have no profound effect on me. However, this dream left me with a very fresh, happy feeling. I felt satisfied and complete.

I aspire to be like the doctor in my dream. I know that not all of it is realistic. I know that my patients probably won't be laughing and making jokes with each other the entire time. I know that not all of my patients will leave my clinic feeling fresh and satisfied, and that's okay. I know that I'll have to deal with tragic cases, such as the rape survivor who got pregnant, the woman with a wanted, but life threatening pregnancy, or the girl who is just trying to escape her abusive relationship. I know that, for some women, having an abortion is an easy choice. For others, not so much. I also know that, despite all of this, I will never give up on my patients. I will love them unconditionally and do my best to make their abortion experience as positive as possible. I will try to do that much, and no less.

Virtual Bowl-A-Thon: Part 2

A while back, I published a blog post about the Virtual Bowl-A-Thon and my participation in it.

Well, thanks to six amazing people, I reached my goal! Not only that, but I collected $155 dollars, instead of my original goal of $100. I'd like to take a moment to thank the six people who donated to my part of the fundraiser, and to the many other people who donated to the whole thing! The original goal for the Virtual Bowl-A-Thon was $125,000, and we have raised over $150,000! Take a moment to think about that. Take a moment to think about how many women that will help. Isn't it spectacular?

I really hope some of the people who donated are reading this, especially the six people who donated to my cause. I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you so much. You're really making a difference.

P.S. It's not too late to donate! The Abortion Gang still hasn't reached it's final goal. Can you help?

Virtual Bowl-A-Thon

I am blessed. I am blessed to live in a country where women's liberty is respected by law (at least, to a point). I am blessed to live in an area where me and my friends can access an abortion if need be. Not only am I blessed to be able to make a choice with any pregnancies that I may have, but I am blessed to have the money to exercise my right to choose, or to help someone else exercise her right to choose.

However, I am also privileged. I recognize this fact. Some women are in abusive relationships. Some women live in cars. Some women live paycheck by paycheck, with absolutely no extra money to spare in case of an emergency because they already have 3 kids to take care of with no other person around to help them raise those children. I have it a lot easier than those women, and I am going to fight for their right to choose, too.

The right to choose, however, goes much further than allowing the legality of abortion. The right to choose means having access to abortion. Having access to abortion means having enough providers, having providers close by, having the means to visit a provider, and having the money for the procedure. What would the right to choose mean without all of those things? Absolutely nothing. Many women honestly can not afford to have an abortion. What of them? What of their right to choose? As pro-choicers, we are obligated to support the right to choose for all women, not just those who are privileged enough to afford it.

This is where the abortion funds come in.

I'm participating in the "virtual bowl-a-thon" started by the National Network of Abortion Funds. The bowl-a-thon is a fund raising event to help women who could not otherwise afford an abortion get one. I'm fund raising with the Abortion Gang. There are women in need out there, and they need your help. Can you donate anything at all to help them? $20? $10? $5? Any amount will help. Thank you!

National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers

Today is the National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers.

Providing abortions can be a dangerous job. Abortion doctors aren't like other doctors, in the sense that other doctors don't usually deal with protesters, receive death threats, or survive murder attempts. Abortion providers risk their lives, and prior events have shown us that this risk is very real.

The first abortion provider assassinated in the U.S. was killed today, in 1993. Other murders and murder attempts followed, along with other acts of terrorism such as arson, bombings, and kidnappings, all because these doctors are saving women's lives. Abortion providers are forced to alter their lives in order to protect their own lives, the lives of their families, and the lives of the clinic staff. Simple activities that you and I take for granted, like looking outside of a window, can prove to be dangerous for our providers, as Dr. Warren Hern of Boulder Colorado expresses in this excerpt of the article called "Free Speech That Threatens My Life"

The news of James Kopp’s arrest in France for the 1998 murder of Dr. Barnett Slepian reached me just as I finished performing an abortion for the last patient of the morning. My relief was tempered by the news of the previous day: A judgment against anti-abortion fanatics who want me and other doctors killed had been overturned by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in California.

The previous afternoon, as I sat by a window in my office talking with a reporter about the appellate court decision, I noticed that the Venetian blinds were slightly open. Without interrupting the conversation or thinking about it, I reached over to close the blinds. That has become my response when I find myself by an open window. I move away, draw the curtains or close the blinds.

It’s too dangerous for me to be in front of a window. Five shots were fired through the waiting room windows of my office in 1988. But I learned the need to be cautious most intensely in October 1998 as I watched in horror the reports of Dr. Slepian’s assassination in the kitchen of his home in western New York.

Whoever shot Dr. Slepian accomplished his purpose – to strike terror into my heart. It was an act of political terrorism, as have been the assassinations and attempted assassinations of 10 other abortion doctors and several similar attacks, also sometimes fatal, on others who helped abortion doctors or were with them.

It is unusual now for me to lift the coverings of windows in my home so I can see out. I have a nice view from my home of the famous Flatirons mountains that rise above Boulder, but it is a luxury now to enjoy that view.

As my life is now, the windows cannot be uncovered at night. Sometimes I look into the homes of my neighbors and see them moving about and relaxing with their families. My office is a fortress of steel fences and bulletproof windows, and my home has become a hiding place from which I emerge and hope that I will not be the next assassin’s target.

At the very least, we owe our providers a simple "thank you", don't you think?

I propose that we make every day a day to appreciate our abortion providers. When you meet an abortion provider, say thank you for all of the work that they do. You can send them flowers, call the clinic to show your appreciation, or, if possible, donate money. These are all very small sacrifices compared to what they sacrifice for the right to liberty. If you haven't already, you can show your appreciation for abortion providers here.

Without abortion providers, the legality of abortion is meaningless. Thank you, abortion providers, for making liberty possible!