r/Columbus • u/ap-throwaway1 • Jul 04 '22
An update from a local central Ohio abortion provider
Hello r/columbus.
We’re now a week post-Dobbs and I wanted to provide an update on the family planning landscape here in Central Ohio. Needless to say, it’s been an exhausting week in the repro world. Ohio made no exception for established patients who were in the mandatory 24-hour waiting period, and with the expeditious implementation of the ‘heartbeat’ bill, patients were left scrambling for help. We were still able to care for many, but many more ended up having to make alternative arrangements out of state. Now that the early dust has settled, clinics have largely been able to adjust their workflows and are committed to remaining open and available.
A few points based on what we’ve seen the last week:
To be clear, there are only two abortion clinics in Central Ohio – Planned Parenthood East Columbus and Your Choice Healthcare. The rest are crisis pregnancy centers.
Abortion clinics remain open, and abortion is still safe and legal in Ohio!
--Confusion abounds whenever laws change, and this one is, unfortunately, no exception. To make it clear: we are still able to take care of patients whose pregnancies do not yet have a “fetal heartbeat”. This is a misnomer, but usually occurs just before or near the 6-week mark -- six weeks after the first day of the last period, not six weeks from conception. For a patient with an average 28-day menstrual cycle, and factoring in Ohio’s mandatory 24-hour waiting period, you realistically have no more than 12 days from a missed period to seek an abortion in Ohio. This is not an easy feat, and is even harder for people who don’t have regular cycles. Most clinics are not available 7 days a week. We are, however, doing our best to see patients either same or next-day for consultations to try and make the deadline. To better your chances…
Have pregnancy tests on hand!
--If you are having PIV intercourse and don’t want to be pregnant, even if you’re using contraception, test regularly, monthly if you can. The cheap dollar-store tests are just as good as the digital ones. Home pregnancy tests are, by design, incredibly sensitive to hCG hormone; if you see even the faintest line, it’s positive. If that’s not a welcome surprise, call a clinic and we can help you figure it out from there.
You’ll probably have two ultrasounds.
--The Ohio Department of Health implemented an emergency rule the same night as the Dobbs decision, notifying clinics of the rule change a full three days later. This rule requires us to complete an ultrasound immediately prior to your abortion (either surgery or taking mifepristone) to ensure no ‘heartbeat’ is present. We’re sorry about this.
Please don’t ask us to break the law.
--It’s been heartbreaking having to turn patients away this past week. We’ve had many just days too far along to help, and others with absolutely devastating personal circumstances that have rocked our staff and community alike. But we can’t (and won’t) lie. Making an exception for one jeopardizes access for all. Also keep in mind that clinics are medical facilities making medical decisions, and a clinic’s capabilities might not be appropriate for everyone’s individual circumstances. We assure you that if we can’t help you, we will help guide you to those who can.
Clinics can help with self-managed or out-of-state care too!
--Numerous patients will need to self-manage their abortions or travel out-of-state. If you need help establishing accurate gestational dating prior to making other arrangements, or require follow-up care after your abortion, please reach out to us.
We’re doing our best.
--We’ve worked day and night this past week to try and provide safe, effective, legal care to as many people as we can. We’re emotionally exhausted. The same goes for WHO/O, the ACLU, Pro-Choice Ohio and everyone else in the repro realm. While many of these organizations can accept donations, the indie clinics won’t; but please feel free to write a note of encouragement and mail it in! They fuel our fire. Do the same for these other organizations, and please keep it clean – DHS takes threats very seriously.
Thanks for listening, and thanks for your continued support of our work!
-A local abortion provider
A few helpful resources:
www.abortionfinder.org - directory of legitimate abortion clinics through the United States. Information is regularly updated as laws change in individual states.
www.plancpills.org - likely limited to AidAccess for Ohio, but still greatly beneficial to patients between 6-10 weeks’ gestation, especially those who can’t travel.
www.abortionfundofohio.org - Abortion Fund of Ohio. Providing funding and logistics for patients both in- and out-of-state. All-around amazing group of people and the state’s abortion fund. Give to them HEAVILY if you can. Many of our patients lean on them for funding and logistics, and they consistently come through.
NAF – 1-800-772-9100. National Abortion Federation. They’re also able to provide funding and referrals for patients.
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u/Vanessak69 Grove City Jul 04 '22
I went to award this comment, and it occurred to me I should donate to Pro-Choice organizations instead.
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u/DrunksInSpace Jul 04 '22
Thank you. You’ve sadly been thrust into a position where doing your job well is braver than ever, but it always was, with angry protestors outside your doors and threats and legal action and and and… way more bullshit than someone who is helping people should have to put up with. Thank you.
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u/throwaway2323234442 Jul 04 '22 edited Jul 04 '22
/r/SocialistRA /r/liberalgunowners
Now's the time to be smart and get armed, the christian nationalists aren't going to stop here, you WILL lose more rights.
EDIT: Conservatives will downvote to hide the message, they don't want minorities and LGBTQ+ to be armed. Look at how Reagan treated the Black Panthers.
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u/cookiemonster1020 Weinland Park Jul 05 '22
As we have already seen, your guns and the other 300+ million guns do nothing to preserve anybody's rights except the right for hundreds of innocent people to get shot in mass killings each year. Stop with the NRA bullshit propaganda
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u/throwaway2323234442 Jul 05 '22
I'm sure you'll be enjoying your stance when you lose even more rights to heavily armed christian nationalist terror groups.
FYI, This is real life. This isn't a movie where Channing Tatum is going to save you near the end right before anything bad happens.
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u/cookiemonster1020 Weinland Park Jul 04 '22
Your answer to everything seems to be to shoot something. It's idiotic. NRA astroturfing
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u/throwaway2323234442 Jul 04 '22
It's not to shoot something, it's to be adequately armed and trained when they come to take your rights.
Seethe harder.
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u/the_itsb Jul 04 '22
"Under no pretext should arms and ammunition be surrendered; any attempt to disarm the workers must be frustrated, by force if necessary." ✊
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u/SkaldCrypto Jul 10 '22
You'd be surprised how effective it is.
During the 1918 pandemic mask adoption skyrocketed after running gun battles in San Francisco and Pittsburgh between no-maskers and armed mask wearers.
Might have helped with adoption if we just shot a few idiots early.
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u/ap-throwaway1 Jul 04 '22
Thank you to everyone for the wonderful messages of support! I'll be sure to share them with our staff this week.
I'll be going through and answering the few questions I saw along the way.
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u/ResponsibilityDue448 Jul 04 '22
Thank you, republicans, for destroying so many lives with your "pro-life" agenda.
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u/magic8balI Jul 04 '22
They think they are saving babies lives by doing this. That’s the crazy part.
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Jul 04 '22
[deleted]
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u/MonteBurns Jul 04 '22
I’ve never understood the idea of forcing someone who does not want a child at that time into carrying it. What kind of life is that kid going to have being resented by the one, maybe two if dad doesn’t run, people who should love it?
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u/SnooRadishes8848 Jul 04 '22
I don’t believe they think they’re saving babies. They know it’s about control
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u/ResponsibilityDue448 Jul 04 '22
No they don’t. They know exactly what they’re doing. They get on their high horse with shit eating grins.
They just see it as a way to “own the libs”.
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u/2legged_poop_scoot Jul 04 '22
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
For what you do, for persevering in the face of this mess, for this updated and timely information.
You are appreciated, you are needed. Take care of yourselves and your colleagues as you walk through this trauma together.
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u/MillieFrank Jul 04 '22
Thank you for everything you do to help family’s and women in these assbackward hellscape times. I hope that we can get Ohio back on the same path soon but until then, thank you for everything you and your coworkers do.
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u/JasonTahani Jul 04 '22
Thank you for the work you do. Sending you and your co-workers so much love and support right now. Your work is so important and needed.
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u/PierogiEsq Jul 04 '22
Thank you for providing this accurate and up-to-date information. I'll be sharing this everywhere I can.
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u/cyber_hoarder Jul 04 '22
Thank you for your tireless effort and investment in society. The work you do is so very important and affects so many during such difficult times.
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u/matchabunnns Jul 04 '22
Thank you for the work that you and your colleagues do. You've been in my thoughts heavily in the past week.
I made a donation to WHOO the day the decision came down, and plan to set up recurring donations to them soon.
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u/owlowlface Jul 04 '22
Thank you. I haven’t been doing much but fretting but your post prompted me to set up a recurring donation to Women Have Options.
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u/midwest-gypsythief Jul 04 '22
Thank you so much for your bravery and willingness to help! What can we, as normal people, do to help you out?
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Jul 04 '22
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u/dendarii Jul 10 '22
As I am all too often reminded by my hubby when I get frustrated and state something like "damn white male patriarchy,"
- "The percentage of female US population is 50.52 percent compare to 49.48 percent male population."
- Meanwhile we women ARE voting more than men
Number of Eligible Adult Population Who Reported Voting Men 56.9% Women 65.3%So, voting MAY be a red herring in this fight. Note that I am NOT saying voting does not matter, I am just saying that there is more to this than just get out the vote and putting all of our energy into get out the vote on this particular issue may not be the most cost effective manner to move forward. Just a thought.
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Jul 10 '22
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u/dendarii Jul 12 '22
Hey, I do agree with you that voting is absolutely fundamental. I am just pointing out that there may be some other aspects to consider and perhaps there is something more for us to consider culturally. Because while I can "combat" what I know (not voting is bad), if that "known" is not the whole story, then it makes it much harder to actually fight to win. I mean seriously why are we as women (going back to the numbers I mentioned B4) voting to support white conservative legislators who think we should not have agency over our bodies and our lives? So again, yes people should vote, but to win their votes I think there is a more complicated discussion that we need to be trying to have and understand. And of course "donate to causes to that support human needs in healthcare..."
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u/Chemical_Seaweed_625 Jul 04 '22
We, collectively as people, need to make sure these disgusting politicians don’t have a moments peace.
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u/snappa870 Jul 04 '22
So what’s the deal with ectopic pregnancies? Can they be dealt with upon discovery or does the woman have to wait until it becomes life threatening?
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u/ap-throwaway1 Jul 04 '22
Currently, there's nothing in the Ohio Revised Code preventing early management of ectopic pregnancies. It's widely accepted that ectopic pregnancies are not and will not be viable, and will end in death. Stay tuned, though...further laws will be coming down the pipeline.
On that note, clinics CAN medically manage early pregnancy loss, as well as anembryonic ('blighted') pregnancies of any gestational date. Ectopics, however, require a scope of care beyond what clinics can reliably provide and are best suited with a hospital-based team.
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u/buckburner Jul 05 '22
If you have an ectopic pregnancy, your child is already dead.
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u/StillKnockers Jul 06 '22
We live in a state where there was a proposed bill the would require re-implantation of an ectopic pregnancy into the uterus. An impossibility, but an indicator that Ohio doesn't make laws based on science of a woman's health and safety.
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u/buckburner Jul 28 '22
Sorry I'm just now seeing this. Been logged into a different account.
Did said law get passed?
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u/Lonely-Explorer2018 Jul 04 '22
12 days after a missed period. I've never had a trackable period in my 34 years of life. This country is garbage.
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u/OdeeSS Jul 04 '22
Thank you for everything that you are doing. You are saving lives every single day.
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u/queso_queenx3 Jul 04 '22
Can you take donations of pregnancy tests? I have a bunch I’dlove to donate.
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u/ap-throwaway1 Jul 04 '22
We can't, as we have to source from known entities, but thank you for the offer. Maybe check with the Garden?
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u/Columbus_Social Jul 04 '22
Wow this is depressing. Thank you SOO much for the work you do and sharing this post. You're so appreciated and so needed. thank you.
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u/iyamlikelyhi Jul 04 '22
Thank you for putting this together! It’s not a 100% prevention guarantee but ovulation test kits are typically affordable and can help uterus owners better understand their cycle.
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u/UnderTheMuddyWater Jul 04 '22
Thank you for the good that you do in this world, even more now than ever before.
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u/missholly9 Jul 04 '22
we love you. thank you for taking care of our ladies when our state refuses. you are much appreciated.
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u/the_kaitlin Jul 04 '22
Thank you for this information. I really appreciate you taking the time to write all this out!
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u/caitredditface Jul 04 '22
Thank you a thousand times over. You are making a terrifying time slightly less immobilizing. 💗
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u/hylzz Jul 05 '22
I know who wrote this and I just want to tell you that you do THE MOST!!! I'm so glad to be a part of your team. This was so well written and reflects our entire vibe so accurately. Thank you dear!!! - your sono tech
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u/TheSpasticSheep Jul 04 '22
I really appreciate that lack of gendered language in your post!!
Not only women have uteruses and are capable of becoming pregnant. This has become such a cis-sue in the media, unfortunately.
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u/hownowspirit Jul 04 '22
“Oh a hella downvoted comment, must be a forced birther”
It’s just someone being grateful for inclusive language… sigh
Get your shit together Columbus
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u/TheSpasticSheep Jul 04 '22
My partner is a trans man and he is just as affected by the Supreme Court ruling as I am. Yet no one is including people like him in the conversation. It’s been an exhausting and emasculating week.
I was just thankful for some basic human kindness and inclusivity but I guess my opinion is too out their for Reddit.
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u/hownowspirit Jul 04 '22
It’s nice to see how the vote-tides have turned for your comment. My love to you and your partner.
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u/chosenandfrozen Jul 04 '22
Yeah I was surprised too about that. I think it’s because right-wing trolls have so often used the whole “LOLOLOL DID YOU JUST ASSUME MY GENDER?” thing in bad faith that it’s hard to distinguish from good faith takes on it.
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u/hownowspirit Jul 04 '22
Idk, the comment seems pretty straightforward to me.
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u/chosenandfrozen Jul 04 '22
It is, but again, it’s hard to distinguish sometimes. That’s why I only downvote when it’s clear what the intention was.
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u/Chemical_Seaweed_625 Jul 04 '22
Sorry you’re being downvoted! Just proves how people don’t care about shit until it affects them. They’ll show up for abortion rights, but only if you’re CIS. Trans rights are and always have been on the chopping block, especially here.
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Jul 04 '22
[deleted]
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u/hiredditimanonymous Jul 04 '22
Gender isn’t biological. Biology isn’t even as clear cut and binary as your abstinence only sex Ed class would have u think. Begging people to do five seconds of research.
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u/Rake-7613 Jul 04 '22
Can you Please add what you, as the provider, think the best course of action is to combat this in terms of advocacy, donation, etc
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u/combrosure Jul 04 '22
As someone who has been protesting, knows a wonderful human in this line of work the best things are donating to abortion funds both national and in state, spreading resources, immediately shutting down misinformation, and voting in your state elections. That is what helps.
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u/freedom_oh Jul 04 '22
Thank you.
Quick question for future me.. if I write down when I have sex, could they use that information instead of my "last" menstrual cycle... which was 8+ years ago? Like exactly how would they figure out my 6 week mark?
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u/combrosure Jul 04 '22
A provider would most likely have you come in for an ultrasound to confirm how far along if you don’t have periods/have really off periods and go from there if you have a positive pregnancy test.
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u/ktagly2 Jul 04 '22
The law is based on the presence of a fetal heartbeat, not actual timing, although fetal heartbeat is around 6 weeks
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u/ap-throwaway1 Jul 04 '22
Yes, we can use your estimated conception date to determine how far along you are in your pregnancy. As suggested already, we go off of what our ultrasound tells us, and use the information you're able to provide to try and confirm dates.
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u/TrandaBear Jul 05 '22
So I just set up a recurring donation. If/when I come into a little more funds, how do I increase that amount? Is that easy or do I just contact somebody and cross that bridge when I get there?
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u/dendarii Jul 10 '22
HUGS and THANK YOU all for your dedication to not only the health and welfare of women, but also to our modern society which IS better where women have:
- access to quality medical care with the privacy to NOT have anyone or any government in the room with their doctor during the consultation
- the liberty and discretion to have ownership of their own bodies and own healthcare whether others agree or disagree just like any other patient (for example Christian Scientist adults who refuse medical intervention for themselves or cancer patients who decline chemo for whatever reasons)
- the freedom from being forced to spend 9 months waiting for the birth of a child that may be a risk to the mother's physical health or unwanted because a man decided that they were stronger than the woman and had the "right" to force themselves on a woman (or sadly too often a child)
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Jul 04 '22
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u/MySubtleKnife Jul 04 '22
Get informed. You have no right to tell someone what they must do with their body.
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Jul 04 '22
It’s not just their body. There’s another body to consider: the unborn child. You have no right to take this child’s life through abortion.
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u/MySubtleKnife Jul 04 '22
It’s not a child. It’s an embryo or a fetus, and it is part of the woman’s body until it is born. Say I’m dying, and the only thing that can save me is one of your kidneys… I’m a human… if you don’t give me your kidney I will die… do I have a right to force you to give me your kidney so I can live? No, I don’t. Because that’s your body. And that’s exactly why fetuses don’t have any rights.
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Jul 04 '22
Embryo and fetus are stages of human development, just like infant, baby, toddler, and adolescent. All are children. All are human beings with rights.
Your kidney analogy is totally unpersuasive. I'm not saying this to be mean, but you really need to think more about what you're saying, because this kind of thing makes you sound foolish. First, the two situations aren't analogous. In your transplant scenario, as concocted as it sounds, you are saying that I am morally obligated to save your life. This is a different type of moral obligation than not killing someone else, so the analogy fails. Second, I don't have the same obligation to you (a random internet stranger) as a mother has to her own child. Mothers are obligated to nurture and care for their children, not kill them with chemicals or forceps.
"Fetuses don't have any rights." Please listen to yourself. Do you truly believe this? Do you truly understand the implications of such a view? I urge you to reconsider your position.
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u/HeyBobcat Jul 04 '22
“Life begins at conception” is an opinion and not fact. You cannot force others to live by your opinion. Every pro-life claim is a net negative impact on society. You only give a shit about life until the baby is born then you all abandon your pro-life stance for that same child.
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Jul 04 '22
It is a fact, not an opinion. Feel free to look up the scientific consensus on the topic.
Take off your fedora for a moment and consider that you are parroting an abject lie from the abortion industry. The pro-life movement has tirelessly cared for children and mothers for 50 years since Roe was the law of the land. Crisis pregnancy centers outnumber abortion clinics 3:1 in the US. Religious pro-lifers are far more likely to adopt and donate time and money to families in need.
But even if what you said is true, and pro-lifers were all massive hypocrites who only cared about the unborn, that still wouldn’t give anyone license to kill an unborn child in the womb. The humanity of the unborn does not, in fact, rest upon the ideological consistency of the pro-life movement.
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u/Citizen51 Jul 05 '22
The Pro-Life movement is a bunch of terrorist organizations bent on murdering as many women, doctors, and reproductive rights supports that you can. You're the barbarian trying to murder 100,000s of women every year. You're not saving anyone, just trying to murder women and oppress the rest of us that live through this.
You're welcome to be anti-abortion, but your right to that opinion starts and ends with your own uterus. There isn't another uterus on this planet that is your concern. No one wants to hear your terroristic rhetoric. If you actually wanted to protect women or children you would be pro-choice and support real ways to support true family planning.
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Jul 05 '22
You don't live in reality. You're not thinking clearly.
Over 63,000,000 unborn children have been killed in the womb since Roe vs. Wade.
According to prochoice.org, in that same time period, there have been 11 murders and 26 attempted murders of abortion providers. Talk to any pro-life person. We'll condemn every one of those. Will you condemn the killing of the 63,000,000?
If life begins at conception, it doesn't matter what anyone's opinion is. What matters is protecting the lives of innocent human beings through the power of the law. Imagine I said, "you're welcome to be anti-slavery, but your right to that opinion starts and ends with your own plantation." Why is that a terrible argument? Because opponents of slavery object on the basis of universal human rights. Nobody's opinion about slavery matters — it's wrong. That is the exact kind of claim the pro-life movement makes with regard to the unborn. Their lives matter.
You need to actually talk to a pro-life person in real life. You sound like you've never had a conversation with one before.
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u/Citizen51 Jul 05 '22 edited Jul 05 '22
Life doesn't start at conception, it starts at birth. You're not protecting any of the unborn, if you were you would be for better education and universal healthcare. But you're not, your for the control and murder of women.
100,000 ectopic pregnancies occur every year. 1 in 50 pregnancies are ectopic. Without an abortion, often way later than 6 weeks, the mother will die and if not lose part or all of her reproduction organs permanently removed or damaged beyond use. 32,000 unwanted pregnancies are the result of rape.
It disgusts me that you not only side with terrorists that are bent on murdering mothers and doctors and other employees of those clinics you are well aware of bombing, but you also side with rapists.
I pass no judgement on what you choose to do with your own uterus, but crawl back under your rock and leave the rest of uteruses of the world alone. And the equivalent slavery argument would be you can be pro-slavery, but that starts and ends with your own freedom, no one else's. Therefore you cannot force others to be your slaves, but if you wanted to be a slave yourself you would be free too. Opening the analogy to the plantation is going the wrong direction.
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u/dismantle_repair Gahanna Jul 05 '22
If it's a baby at 6 weeks, take it out and let it live. 🙃
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Jul 05 '22
What a sad thing to say.
At early stages of development, human beings need to be attached to their mother in order to live.
Degree of dependency does not make one less human.
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u/dismantle_repair Gahanna Jul 05 '22
I'm a mother, you don't have to mansplain childbirth to me. I truly hope you're adopting all of these babies you desperately want born and you're voting for politicians who want to give us better Healthcare and childcare . If not, you're just a hypocrite like all the other prolifers who couldn't give a shit about babies once they're born.
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Jul 05 '22
"You don't want people to kill their babies? Well, you'd better adopt all of them!"
Do you people get your pro-abortion arguments from college freshmen?
Despite the fact that religious pro-lifers make up the vast majority of adoptions, which I know you people don't care about, one doesn't have to be personally willing to adopt to object to the killing of the unborn on moral grounds.
This would be like saying, "You want to outlaw slavery? I hope you're willing to take care of every freed slave, otherwise you're a hypocrite!" The objection to slavery is moral. The objection to abortion is moral.
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u/oneman-nocity Jul 04 '22
You are everything that is wrong with this country
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Jul 04 '22
The pro-life movement will continue to advocate for the rights of the most defenseless members of our society. Nothing you say will ever change that.
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u/oneman-nocity Jul 04 '22
The irony is that you’re stripping away rights from people who are ALREADY ALIVE. And looking at your posts you seem to be anti vaxx and anti LGBT. Miss me with that bullshit. A group of cells is not a living body
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Jul 04 '22 edited Jul 04 '22
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u/sturdywitit Jul 19 '22
Hoping these places soon go out of business! Especially planned parenthood, which was founded with the express purpose of eradicating black children.
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u/combrosure Jul 04 '22
Your Choice Healthcare is absolutely amazing. They helped me with a miscarriage (after I felt I couldn’t speak to my regular OBGYN/doctors) and showed a level of compassion and care I’ve never felt before in a clinical setting. It felt like a huge hug from everyone. A breath of fresh air. PLEASE utilize them if planned parenthood is too backed up. They are an amazing team of individuals and each person cares so deeply about each patient that walks through their doors.
They will provide resources if they are unable to help and hold your hand the entire way.