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In a new op-ed in the New York Daily News, Democratic candidate in NY-04 Laura Gillen shared her personal experience undergoing a medically necessary abortion procedure after a rare and heartbreaking fetal death during her pregnancy.
Gillen recounts the trauma of both the medical nightmare and the ensuing harassment by anti-choice activists as motivating factors in her fight defend the right to an abortion in the face of Republicans’ war on women’s reproductive freedom.
Gillen has been a staunch advocate of reproductive rights throughout the campaign while her opponent, Anthony D’Esposito, celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade. D’Esposito supports allowing states to ban abortion without exceptions for rape, incest, or even if the woman’s life is in danger.
Read the full op-ed below:
New York Daily News – Abortion is part of basic women’s health care
By Laura Gillen
Sixteen years ago this week, I was due to have a baby girl. My pregnancy was normal well into my second trimester, until I got food poisoning from a restaurant. Like any expectant mother alarmed for her pregnancy, I went to my doctor’s office. They told me everything seemed fine. But at my next scheduled visit, my husband and I received devastating news.
The technician who came in to start our routine tests had a pained look on her face. She asked if I had been having contractions, fever, or any pain. I hadn’t. She then left the room. My husband and I grew worried, then the technician returned with the doctor.
“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Gillen. There’s no heartbeat,” they said. It was a rare fetal death.
While my husband was trying his best to comfort me, I was stuck in a state of complete shock and grief. There would be no baby. My doctor quickly advised that I would need an abortion procedure, called a D&E (dilation and evacuation).
While I worried about the risk of injury or even death from this procedure, my doctor was clear. The danger to my health would be greater if I did nothing. Without the procedure, my life would be at grave risk due to hemorrhaging or a massive infection, either of which could cause organ failure and potentially death. Since we had no idea how long I had been in this state, we had to act immediately to avoid further risk and complications.
During those moments, all I could think about was doing whatever it would take to make sure my two young children at home would have their mother. A decision had to be made right away.
My doctor made an emergency appointment for me at a local abortion clinic near our home on Long Island. Early the next morning, my husband and I drove to the facility, hoping that this would be the end of this horrific nightmare. Instead, we were greeted by more trauma.
Anti-choice activists surrounding the clinic were yelling and hurling insults at us. We heard everything from “You’re a murderer,” to “God will not forgive you.” Even though the walk may have only been 20 or 30 seconds, the screaming and shouting in the midst of mine and my family’s pain was too much. By the time we were able to squeeze our way through the doors and into the waiting room, I had broken down, unable to even give the receptionist my name. “Are you okay?” the receptionist asked me over and over. I couldn’t respond. Instead, I told my husband I wanted to get out of that place as fast as possible. That day was supposed to be the end of the nightmare, but it was only the beginning.
When I told my doctor what had happened, he was appalled and somewhat shocked. He warned that every day that went by without the procedure only increased the likelihood of fatal complications. It would take several more days to arrange the procedure by a hospital surgeon. Those days in between were psychologically agonizing. I was walking around knowing there was a dead fetus inside me.
The care I ultimately received at the hospital was exemplary. However, even there, one of the attending nurses whispered as I went under anesthesia, “What, you don’t like this baby?” — inflicting even more pain in this traumatic situation.
Abortion is not a black-and-white, one-size-fits-all issue. No woman should have to experience harassment and stigma when in need of an abortion procedure. Each day I read about states denying or seriously delaying a woman’s access to these types of abortion procedures, it brings me back to that inescapable tragedy 16 years ago. Even in states where there are built-in exceptions, it sometimes takes weeks to even schedule a procedure. And, almost as horrible, none of these policies account for the incredible mental trauma of women who are forced to continue carrying a non-viable fetus.
Now, with Republicans pushing for a national abortion ban if they get control of Congress, the stakes are even higher. This national ban would outlaw the type of abortion procedure I had after 15 weeks of pregnancy in all 50 states, including New York, and it would criminalize, politicize, and critically delay the decision made between me and my doctor. Missing from the national dialogue is that these health-care decisions are not only deeply personal, but often involve a level of nuance that doesn’t make for good political slogans or fit neatly into one side’s box.
My choice to save my life so I could continue to raise my children was about more than just the right to an abortion. It was about a fundamental human right to decide what happens with my own body — a right we should preserve for all women in this country.
Gillen is a Democratic candidate for U.S. House on Long Island. |
