Okay, I know this is a little crass and/or sensationalistic. But I'm not making it up.
When women don't have options before we get to this point (birth control before having sex, access to abortion in the first trimester, AND YES, information about adoption services -- which Planned Parenthood does), then something like this could happen.
Sadly, we have now given celebrity status to women who didn't even know they were pregnant until the baby popped out. How can a woman possibly not know she was pregnant? Two reasons come to mind: one, denial is a darned strong force. Two, THIS IS A GROSS LACK OF EDUCATION. Would this be happening if we had comprehensive sex ed in schools? Even little things, like calling it "morning sickness" when really, it happens at any time of the day, or all day long. "Well, I didn't think I was pregnant, because I wasn't throwing up in the mornings."
I'm starting to rant, so I'm going to stop. But, in case you want to read them, here are some of the news stories that inspired the photo:
Jessica Phillips
Simone Walker
Jessica Mae Betts
Diedre Harman
Unknown
Unknown
Baby Ania Duncan (6 months old)
Just wanted to let you know how brave I think you are for doing this blog topic (regardless what your opinion of it is).
ReplyDeleteI applaud you for getting people to talk about it and I hope they can do so with an open heart and mind with an idea of resolution instead of anger and violence.
Wow. Clicked only one of those links I think that's about all I can handle. I can understand a woman not realizing she's pregnant when the only for-sure signal would be a missed period (many women have irregular cycles). But once you're past the mid-way point, once you've got a baby kicking you and makings its presence obvious... man. It's scary when you realize just how naive and ignorant people really can be (which is why we need better education).
ReplyDelete@Wendy: thanks.
ReplyDelete@Marcy: Yes, we do need more education and information, to increase awareness... but denial is a frighteningly powerful force.
I did the math and found out I was pregnant before I got back on the pill (after missing my Depo shot). Before going back on the pill, I was given an at-home pregnancy test to take home and take before starting the pill. The test MUST have been positive, but I read it as negative, and went on with my business. Now, misreading those little lines is different from 9 months of missed periods and having a creature moving inside of you, but denial could easily dismiss those symptoms as "gas" or really bad cramps.
Cristina, how pregnant would you have been? Pregnancy math is wierd-- the first two weeks of "pregnancy" you're not even pregnant, it's just the way doctors measure things b/c it's easier to count from your last period than to guess when you ovulated last.
ReplyDeleteAlso, many tests won't give a positive result till 3-4 weeks, or even later (some women don't get a positive test till 5,6, 8+ weeks pregnant). Even then, the line can be super faint which can be easy to miss. And that's not to take into account things like that the time of day you take the test in might influence it, or how much water you've drank recently (diluted pee = diluted hormones in pee = less accurate test). So you might've still gotten a negative result.
I am so glad that you pointed all of this out. After all, abandoning the infant (or worse) after it's born because of a lack of access to abortion is only one of the scary things that can happen, especially when you consider the lengths that women have historically gone to to terminate pregnancy when abortion was illegal or unavailable. I truly cannot imagine that anyone would think that state of things would be preferable to the safe and legal choice of having a reputable doctor perform an abortion. It saves so much heartache and danger in the end.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I know I said it once before, but I am beyond impressed by how brave you are.