Feminism Series
Abortion: At What Point Do You Start Eating for 2?
A true story about why I kept the baby as a teenager.
That’s a picture of me 5 -6 months pregnant with my 3rd child, Jazz.
Abortions at 6 months are legal in some States.
“Abortion is legal in California, both for teens and adults. You have the right to get an abortion for any reason until approximately 6 months after you become pregnant.” -Planned Parenthood
I have had abortions and have chosen to keep my children too but what I don’t condone is abortions at 5 months old and more…those are kicking babies at that point and some states allow this.
Having said that, I do agree that what you do with your body is your business and taking that right away brings a whole host of other problems.
- My comment in Samuel O'Brient piece “Stop Putting Abortion and Vaccines in the Same Category”
At what point do you start eating for 2?
Or put another way, when does life begin?
We have to admit that no one really knows.
Is it ok to have abortions every month like birth control?
It is ok to have abortions without restrictions during an 8th-month pregnancy?
The 2 extremes are not going to work.
There must be a compromise.
When does life begin and when does it end?
I say when there’s a heart beat.❤
We all know that when we die our heart stops beating. When someone checks to see if a person is dead, the first thing they do is check their pulse, right?
So in the name of love and decency, can we compromise at a heartbeat as a cut-off time for abortions?
Or should it be when a fetus can feel pain?
My abortion & why I kept the baby as a teenager.
When I had my 1st abortion, I was about 6 weeks pregnant.
I was lucky I found out so early, but what about women who find out later, and those who were raped or are teens?
Does a heartbeat or the ability of the baby to feel pain matter?
It mattered to me when those nuns at the clinic scared the crap out of me.
When I was pregnant for the first time, I was a teen mom.
6 months prior, I had just left my mother’s nest in the Caribbean to go to college in NYC.
In this story I wrote:
“I almost had a heart attack seeing that positive double line on that pregnancy test. I just graduated high school that year and I was a late bloomer with a mind of a 15-year-old.”
As a freshman in college, what did I know about taking care of a baby?
I didn’t believe it. I mean, it took me a while to catch on that I was pregnant after I missed my period. I was barely 18 and I’d never been pregnant before.
So I bought another pregnancy test but this time, with my friend in the bathroom stall with me because I didn’t believe my own eyes. When the test showed up positive again, we were both shocked.
How was I gonna tell my parents?
They would kill me!
Then a moment of clarity came over me, I knew what I had to do:
I was going to get an abortion.
I made my best friend swear to the secrecy about my plan. She agreed and with that agreement came huge bouts of guilt and shame. I couldn’t sleep at all that night, I couldn’t eat and I couldn’t concentrate at school.
I was raised Catholic and was taught that abortion was a sin. As silly as this sounds, I was praying for God to guide me to make me un-pregnant..lol
Then one day after class, I came across a Catholic pregnancy clinic and I naively took it as a sign from God. I stepped inside and hoped that by some miracle my prayer would be answered. I went to get my 3rd pregnancy test.
I peed in a cup and gave it to the nurse. While I waited for a negative result:
Those nuns at the clinic scared the crap out of me.
They triggered me the most because they reminded me of my mother who didn’t know I was pregnant yet and was a fanatically Christian Catholic.
I was getting a full-blown panic attack as they asked me about giving my baby up for adoption. They told me of families I can live with if I get thrown out or communities that housed pregnant teens if I choose to use the adoption option.
“No!”…I told them.
I can’t imagine carrying a baby for 9 months just to give it up! There must be another way and besides my test will come back negative. It had to!
They made me sit down in a waiting lounge and put in a videotape of what I thought were other options I can take if my results were positive. Instead, it was a vividly detailed documentary of the process of abortions. I was horrified as I watched babies with definable hands and feet being aborted!
Can these babies feel the pain?
Was I watching legalized murder?
I vomited.
I don’t know if it was because of morning sickness or just the fact that I was already sick with incredible guilt and fear. I was asking myself a new question now.
When does a fetus have a heartbeat?
“The heart of an embryo starts to beat from around 5–6 weeks of pregnancy. Also, it may be possible to see the first visible sign of the embryo, known as the fetal pole, at this stage.
The heart of a fetus is fully developed by the 10th weekTrusted Source of pregnancy. Learn more about the development of the heart from weeks 5–10 below:” — Medical News Today
When does a fetus feel pain?
A baby in the womb can feel pain at 6 months (28–30 weeks).
“According to a study published last summer in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), a fetus is not capable of experiencing pain until 28 to 30 weeks after conception, when the nerves that carry painful stimuli to the brain have developed. Before that, the fetal reaction to a noxious stimulus is a reflex that does not involve consciousness” — NuerologyToday
The pregnancy test came back positive for the 3rd time. I just couldn’t bring myself to abort my baby after seeing that!
Then a moment of clarity came over me, I knew what I had to do:
I was going to have a baby.
When I left that clinic even the air smelled different. My heart burst with joy.
While pregnant, “you’re eating for 2” is a cute saying.
Is it literal or is it a metaphor?
At what point do you start eating for 2?
More from Me
“What you do with your body is your business and taking that right away brings a whole host of other problems.”- Jaja Requa