I did not show, and because my periods have always been erratic, the missing menstruation would not have meant anything. Had I not known because I was hoping for pregnancy, it would have been very likely for me to be nearly 25 weeks along before knowing. You’re rendered a month pregnant as soon as you can possibly know.

Most folks who can get pregnant do not know until at least 4 weeks, and usually, it’s more like 6, as pregnancy dating begins at the first date of your last period. I knew early because the hormones were there. I knew because I was taking drugs and had a procedure, and I tested at every chance to see what was going on. I knew I was pregnant at 3.5 weeks, which is absolutely unheard of. This will most harm those who are chronically ill, low income, disabled, and, of course, from communities of the global majority. Wealthy, able-bodied, healthy people will have access no matter what. Texas’s draconian new abortion law makes termination of pregnancy at 6 weeks illegal and more, puts a bounty on those who are trying to seek a safe one. It’s a decision between a pregnant person and their doctor or other healthcare worker who can do the procedure. It’s not a decision between a woman and her doctor. Their already-marginalized bodies and experiences are only further harmed with the language we use to discuss abortion. Nonbinary, transgender, and agender folks, as well as those who identify outside those labels who can get pregnant deserve to be heard in this discussion, too. It’s a human rights issue, and we need to address it as such. It’s a medical procedure that needs to be accessible for any and all.Ībortion isn’t a women’s rights issue. You do not need to have been a victim of a sexual assault, rape, or incest to be granted an abortion, just as you don’t need to be in a life-or-death situation. I think using the term “pro-choice” allows too many loopholes and too many ways for clauses to be added to the who in relation to access to the medical procedure. My experience made me far more pro-abortion than I’d ever been before. Throughout the process and learning exactly what needs to happen for successful pregnancy, followed by a pregnancy that became very challenging at the end, and a labor and delivery experience that could have left me dead, have made me really come to understand how little the general population understands, nor cares to understand, fertility and bearing children. In fact, I lost a very early pregnancy - it was there, and then it wasn’t, as can happen to so many childbearing folks in those first 6 weeks of pregnancy - before seeking more aggressive fertility treatment.

I’ve never been in the position of needing to terminate a pregnancy.

Aftercare Instructions by Bonnie Pipkin