The article below was originally published in the Summer 2004 issue of. and was nominated for an award from the American Society of Magazine Editors. Fifteen years later, 75 percent of Americans still think the decision whether or not a person should have an abortion “should be left to the woman and her doctor,” according to a recentI could see my baby’s amazing and perfect spine, a precise, pebbled curl of vertebrae. His little round skull. The curve of his nose.
Legally, a doctor can still surgically take a dead body out of a pregnant woman. But in reality, the years of angry debate that led to the law’s passage, restrictive state laws and the violence targeting physicians have reduced the number of hospitals and doctors willing to do dilations and evacuations and dilations and extractions , which involve removing a larger fetus, sometimes in pieces, from the womb.
I also did some research, spoke with friends who were obstetricians and gynecologists, and quickly learned this: Study after study shows D&Es arethan labor and delivery. Women who had D&Es were far less likely to have bleeding requiring transfusion, infection requiring intravenous antibiotics, organ injuries requiring additional surgery or cervical laceration requiring repair and hospital readmission.
My doctor recommended a specialist in a neighboring county, but when I called for an appointment, they said they couldn’t see me for almost a week.“I can’t do these myself,” said my doctor. “I trained at a Catholic hospital.” Don’t come in, they told me again and again. “Go to your emergency room if you are hemorrhaging to avoid bleeding to death. No one here can do a D&E today, and unless you’re really in active labor you’re safer to wait.”
At last, I found one university teaching hospital that, at least over the telephone, was willing to take me. But when I arrived at the university’s emergency room, the source of tension was clear. After examining me and confirming I was bleeding but not hemorrhaging, the attending obstetrician, obviously pregnant herself, defensively explained that only one of their dozens of obstetricians and gynecologists still does D&Es, and he was simply not available. Not today. Not tomorrow.
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