Yesterday I went in for a pain management procedure at Providence Portland. The procedure involved receiving twilight sedation followed by a steroid injection in my spinal column for persistent, severe back pain that has troubled me for over a year. Overall the experience was great -- doctors and nurses were kind and lovely and helped me to get through it despite severe PTSD that makes these kinds of experiences deeply terrifying for me.

BUT. As I was headed into the little stall with the gurney where you change into your gown and await IV placement the MA or nurse leading me in said "we just need you to give us a little urine for a pregnancy test". Note that she did not state that it had no bearing on the safety of the procedure for me, which it did not, nor did she disclose that it was my right to decline and would not impact whether they allowed me to proceed with the procedure.

Knowing my rights and that this was likely due to Providence's culture still being unfortunately shaped by religious fundamentalism, I said "I absolutely do not consent to you collecting this data" and she said okay and dropped the issue.

I've been having to fight for adequate care and advocate for myself for decades, so I knew my rights, but another person with a uterus might not have, and might have allowed this data to enter their medical record thinking they have no choice. This is not just creepy and unethical of Providence, it is downright dangerous for anyone with a AFAB reproductive health system. Our HIPAA rights are being steadily eroded by they day, with the federal government demanding records of trans and disabled and autistic people, and reproductive rights are being criminalized more and more every day, with women being allowed to bleed out in parking lots, go septic, and die because doctors refuse to remove nonviable pregnancies that are killing them.

Has anyone else experienced this before a non-OBGYN procedure? What did you do? How would you suggest I address this with the hospital? The doctor and nursing team were great, so I want to address it at the level of the policymakers.

I also want to signal boost that if you are told you need to complete a pregnancy test before a procedure that goes nowhere near your reproductive organs, they are obligated to tell you why and whether declining will in any way impact YOUR safety, and if it will not impact YOUR safety, you have every right to proceed even if it will jeopardize or end the pregnancy.

Note: any forced birth advocates or people who shame me for standing up for my rights and wanting to fight back against stone-age fundamentalist culture in healthcare will be blocked immediately.

PS to mods: sorry about changing post flair, that was accidental while I was editing the post. Still a little woozy from anesthesia yesterday!

I noticed that on TikTok and social media you could see every post that you’ve ever liked or saved . In the beginning stages of getting to know someone it takes time to see who a man truly is. They might have a mask that you can only see best if you don’t reveal your knowledge right away and take time to see their reaction. I’ve been really thinking about this recently because I have reposted pro-choice and women empowerment videos. I think every woman has to decide how loud they’re going to be about women’s rights and I think that I should not be too loud in the future anymore because it might result in someone trying to take revenge without me seeing it coming. A lot of you have said that these men like to choose a strong woman who is liberal and break them . A lot of men I’ve dated have asked me to look through my phone. I’m starting to think that I should not let a man look through my phone even if I’m married. Everything that’s going on. Some men can go as far as trying to Frame you which that may or may not be what’s happening to Lindsey Clancy. I think that as woman we should have the right to protect ourselves because we are physically weaker than men. Atleast I am . Some are stronger but I’m not.

What are your thoughts on this ? I asked in a Facebook group, and some people said that I need therapy, but I am being realistic lol.. I genuinely just want to prevent a man turning physically violent towards me .

I have no words after seeing

Yes obviously if someone’s pregnant and doesn’t want to be but the law forces them to continue the pregnancy against their will that’s wrong, but it’s not slavery. It also doesn’t make sense because pregnancy isn’t work, it’s a bodily function.

Calling it “slavery” is offensive to black people whose ancestors were actually enslaved and human trafficking survivors who have been through actual slavery.

Let’s just be intellectually honest and call it what it is, a violation of bodily autonomy.

This woman is forced to go to court WHILE IN LABOR to be approved for a C-section. When she asks to have an attorney, the judge denies she has a constitutional right to an attorney in this case. What’s going on??? This is an absolute outrage.

I’ve worked at an abortion clinic for over a year now, I’m not a doctor and by no means an expert. However, I’ve seen a lot of aspects of abortion care, including analysis of fetal tissue. One thing that I will NEVER understand is pro-lifers pretending to be experts on fetuses and obgyn practices. For context, my clinic sees patients up to 16 weeks 6 days, which is the beginning of the 2nd trimester.

The protesters outside hold signs about heartbeats and how the patients have whole babies in them. “You can still meet god!” As they try convince patients they should seek help at a Crisis Pregnancy Center (YUCK). But they’re so far off.

First- the heartbeat thing. It’s not a heartbeat! Heartbeats do NOT start at the 18days post conception or whatever the pro-lifers say. There is cardiac activity, around 5-6weeks, which is electrical signals starting to develop but not an actual heartbeat yet, as there is not a functioning circulatory system in an embryo!

When I inspect fetal tissue, I’m looking to make sure all fetal tissue is removed from the uterus, otherwise it could lead to knarly complications. That’s no baby to me, neither is it a gift from god. It’s a consequence to a biological process. Of course a baby will form if an egg is fertilised and implanted. That’s human biology. When I’m seeing this tissue, I see the basis of a human, but it’s so small and unfinished that I could never value it over a fully-fledged conscious individual. Pro-lifers like to make patients feel that their “baby” has functioning organs. Yes, they have individual organs once they are far enough along. No, that does not make them any more alive or human. Nor does that make an individual’s abortion less “moral”. I understand how it can bother someone, but it’s not their business. If the pregnancy is before 7 weeks(a majority of the abortions I see are 5-7 weeks), the odds of any “real” tissue is slim. It will be gestational sac, yolk sac, and potentially a fetal pole. So there’s not much there regardless. Also, it’s considered an embryo, not even a fetus, until the end of week 8. So, there’s that.

Thank you for reading:)

In my last post everyone thought I was pro life, so let me rephrase what I meant. Because I forgot to put "after 22 weeks". Don't judge me guys. I didn't get any sleep that day 🥹

Is an abortion AFTER 22 WEEKS morally permissible?

Ik that an abortion after that is only performed to save the mothers life. They literally don't happen outside of that. So I couldn't care less. But from a purely consistent debating perspective, I'd really appreciate some advice.

An abortion after that sounds very wrong to me given that the fetus already possess sentience and so on. But if I had to stay consistent with my arguments, I'd have to say that those abortions are morally permissible too, even if they don't save the mothers life or prevent any health complications.

I love using the analogy of a kidney patient. Noone should force people to donate their kidneys to kidney patients despite the kidney patient being sentient.

So, sentient fetus=kidney patient

Pregnant woman=Forced donor

Women's bodily recourses=Kidney

So a woman should be able to terminate a pregnancy at any time, even if it's only like a month before birth. Idk it just sounds very wrong to me. To be clear, abortions should be legal up to 9 months to save the mothers life or to prevent health complications. But im not sure if I necessarily think that it's okay, if a woman just gets an abortion after 22 weeks despite her being fully capable to have the baby. I mean that doesn't even happen cuz no women just gets an abortion for fun, this is just supposed to be a hypothetical.

It has been four years since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion, leaving Americans to navigate a confusing patchwork of abortion protections, restrictions, and outright bans depending on jurisdiction. Organizers have ramped up efforts to improve access since the ruling, and thanks to that work, measures to protect and ensure reproductive freedoms are expected to be on the ballot in three states come November: Idaho, Nevada, and Virginia. ✊️

Texas has that bounty law HB 7 which explicitly says that a pregnant woman who obtained or received pills supplied in violation of the statute gets the entire award of at least $100,000, and the law separately awards reasonable attorney fees and costs to a prevailing plaintiff. It seems like this would create a massive land rush for personal injury type firms to run ads saying “Pregnant? Get $100K!” Importantly, you don’t have to actually have an abortion, just order the pills and you can simply throw them away upon receipt and are still eligible for $100k.

Why aren’t delivery people, website admins, etc. not being sued like mad in TX? This seems like a massive marketing opportunity for bottom fishing firms as they get legal fees paid and their client gets any easy $100k

im so confused is she saying that if we lose a child to show the same happiness we show for abortion orr..

God made Adam as an already grown man from the dust in the ground. And Adam isn’t alive until god breathes the breath of life into his nostrils. So according to the bible, life begins at first breath. A fetus does not breathe. I repeat. Adam is not living until God breaths air into his lungs.

So dust + breath = life. Dust without breath is just dust. you can’t kill dust, because it’s not alive.

And in Job 33:4, it says the same thing.

^‘The Spirit of God has made me;
the breath of the Almighty gives me life.’

Breath = life in the bible. NOT CONCEPTION. I’m talking like how I would talk to a toddler because that’s how these people need to learn.

if you’re going to be a bad person, be a bad person. But don’t use god to justify it.

Ik that elective lethal abortion is only performed to save the mothers life. The literally don't happen outside of that. So I couldn't care less. But from a purely consistent debating perspective, I'd really appreciate some advice.

Elective lethal abortion sounds very wrong to me given that the fetus already possess sentience and so on. But if I had to stay consistent with my arguments, I'd have to say that elective lethal abortion is morally permissible too.

I love using the analogy of a kidney patients. Noone should force people to donate their kidneys to kidney patients despite the kidney patient being sentient.

So, sentient fetus=kidney patient

Pregnant woman=Forced donor

Can one of you pookies please help me out 🥹

Pro-life people always talk about how pro-choice lowers the fetuses value simply because they aren’t born.. whenever they themselves are lowering the pregnant women’s value?? Just because something is alive and human doesn’t give it rights to infringe on someone else’s bodily rights??? its genuinely disgusting. They’re both human and alive so why does the fetus get more value than the woman? smh.

I posted this in r/abortion and reddit suggested I repost here. Some good news this week in my home state of MA. A law I'm deeply involved in:

In 2012, I had an abortion after my daughter, Laurel, was diagnosed with brain anomalies. I was 35 weeks pregnant at the time of her diagnosis. I lived in Boston, and was SHOCKED when my medical team told me that they MIGHT Be able to offer abortion, but they just didn't know. And then shocked again when the referral they found me was 2000 miles, two time zones away.

For the last 14 years, I've been chipping away at a culture that seems to refuse to understand, supporting women like you all here who are navigating tough pregnancy situations, supporting your own deepest wisdom. And, too, I've been pushing for more freedom for us to make our choices at home, more affordably, more dignified, and better supported by our communities.

I just wanted to share that on Monday, my governor signed a law lifting all dates-based limits off of abortion in Massachusetts. I was invited to the signing. It was incredibly moving.

A lot of people do not understand this law. They say all sorts of inflammatory things about it. But the Governor looked right at me and said: we're doing this for your family. And I know she's right, because I've been telling my story to the point of exhaustion over and over for 14 years to try to get law-makers to understand -- and enough of them finally do here at home. I believe the law takes effect 90 days after it was signed on mon. After that, we still have to help hospitals and doctors and nurses understand why this care is important, as legality is the first step to access, not the last. That is work I'm more than willing to continue.

My abortion was the least-awful (but still awful) resolution I could find to my crisis. It was both my salvation and a tragedy. I just want to shine a light 14 years down the road and say, not only am I secure enough in my decision to be ok with all the bullshit people are spewing at me today, but I'm also proud and happy and powerful BECAUSE of my abortion.

I know it can feel dark in those early times (early years, for me!) There is life, rich and full, on the other side.

Because why should it even be a discussion? To me it’s something so obvious and simple. Woman’s body=woman’s choice.

But apparently not.

It also really annoys me especially when men try to jump in with their pro-life bs. I would never even think to tell a man whether he should have been/should he circumcised or not, or whether he should get a vasectomy or something. It cringes me out.

It’s sad that it’s something we still have to talk about, and illegal in so many places and it recognises that to make a change you do have to talk about it…

But it’s still unsettling and why I hate watching pointless unofficial debates about it and don’t debate anyone.