Congratulations on your upcoming book release and great reviews. You are an easy- to- read informative writer and I appreciate all your hard work. This info is vital as is your leadership. Thank you!
I am a 74 yr old family doctor and many of my colleagues have supported this piece. as a new author it is not likely to get accepted and i welcome your review and suggestions.
***
A Letter to my Male Patients: A Family Physician speaks on the danger of anti-abortion legislation (with permission from his spouse to share their story)
===
Are you a man in a relationship with a woman considering an abortion?
In many states, male legislators made abortion a criminal activity.
Fifty years old, I was a 25-year-old medical intern living with my girlfriend when she became pregnant. I like to imagine I was unselfish but that was not true. I was unsure of myself and my commitment to our relationship. I postponed my support, disguising my ambivalence with exhaustion. My partner chose an abortion.
She was adamant this was her decision to make.
She was fierce about this.
About her right to control her body. Yet she wanted to talk with me, in the privacy of our home, about her dreams of a family and our shared purpose. She had witnessed her mother bearing twelve children in twenty years with no reproductive options. My partner would never submit to these lack of choices.
The US anti-abortion movement is about men controlling women’s bodies, sanctioned by the state that entitles them to this power. It is coercive reproduction. This movement uses moral and religious rationalizations to impose this legislation. It wants the legal authority to define who a man can love, how he can love and be loved, and when to start a family.
But this movement is not about saving children’s lives. States with anti-abortion legislation suffer the country’s worst perinatal mortality rates. Anti-abortion legislators are concerned with power.
This legislation is more than an assault on women. This movement violates the bedrock American principle of privacy within our homes. Project 2025 intends to impose this ideology through legislation upon all aspects of our lives; silencing, condemning, punishing, and persecuting those who oppose it. Opposing self-determination is the hallmark of the authoritarian state.
The recent Supreme Court Dobbs decision sets us back fifty years. Back then, I was unclear about my part in this critical family decision-making process. But my partner had no illusions. The Roe v Wade ruling awarded her the power to make decisions that had been denied to her mother and created massive hardships that women had endured for generations, hardships justified with exhortations to sacrifice, devotion, and religious fidelity, calling their opposition selfish and immoral.
I had to consider supporting a person I loved who was facing a serious life-changing decision. I did not have to accept the lie that I could only be who the state wanted me to be, the lie that I was incapable of loving my partner in all the ways she wanted to be loved. I could not control her, but I could support her.
Some men may not consider anti-abortion legislation as their concern.
But restricting reproductive freedom is more than coercion of women. It is about intrusive control by the state over human relationships: How we experience intimacy. The meaning of a family.
I encourage men to avoid using the approval of the state to mask our own emotional issues. This rationalization does not make men stronger. It makes us weaker. We are better than that.
Unexpected crises occur in every relationship. These are opportunities to cultivate dignity and self-respect. Supporting our partners during difficult decisions is how relationships grow. We can demonstrate compassion. We can stand beside our partners with kindness, courage, and integrity. Anti-abortion legislation is more than an assault on women. It’s an assault on men and their relationships with the women they love. It is an assault on every relationship in a free society.
I suggest you look into Men4Choice. They may be able to give you some support and ideas on how to get your opinion piece published. And I think you will find some allies there.
Rachel E. Gross, "When 'Abortion' Wasn't a Dirty Word," New York Times (Aug. 13, 2024), https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/13/science/medical-history-abortion.html discusses the history of terminology about pregnancy loss. In the 19th century, the words "abortion" and "miscarriage" were used interchangeably for early pregnancy loss--often identified as spontaneous, if nothing was done to terminate the pregnancy, missed, if some tissue remained in the uterus, or "habitual" if there were a number of miscarriages in sequence. In the 19th century, newspaper ads for allegedly abortifacient drugs advertised "removing obstructions" or regulating "female irregularity."
The article says that 19th century medical science (such as it was) didn't distinguish between reasons for pregnancy loss; "most miscarriages were managed safely at home." By the 1840s, one reason male obstetricians said they were more scientific than female midwives was that they had a more complex terminology, defining abortion as pregnancy loss in the first three months of gestation, and miscarriage after formation of the placenta.
In 1857, gynecologist Dr. Horatio Storer, to promote his belief that life began at conception, campaigned to make induced abortion illegal--and by 1910, all the states had criminalized abortion. Storer referred to abortions not involving a doctor as "criminal abortions," whereas "therapeutic abortions" involved a doctor.
In the 1980s, however, standard medical terminology began to distinguish between the terms "miscarriage" and "abortion".
When I went to RN school in the 90's the medical terminology proper term for miscarriage is Spontaneous abortion. This was doubly enforced when I specialized in Surgical Technology. They stopped using the term to patients because of the anti-abortion whackos, but among ourselves comonly used the term.
Taber's which is the medical terminology bible was the source of my education at the time.
In Illinois, Ascension is in the process of selling nine of their hospitals. I’m not happy with who the hospitals are being sold to- Prime Health- because it is a for-profit entity. I believe that all health care should be run by not-for-profit groups. But, at least these nine hospitals will no longer be run by a catholic organization.
The Wall Street Journal, of all people, ran an admiring article by Scott Calvert, "The Parties Where Volunteers Pack Abortion Pills for Red-State Women," (Aug. 13, 2024), https://www.wsj.com/us-news/abortion-pill-parties-shipping-148e3c15. Doctors, other professionals, and retirees near Boston filled 350 boxes with mifi/miso, medical information, and a note, "We wish you the best!" The parties support the MAP (Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project."
MAP is almost a year old; it applies the Massachusetts shield law to provide the pills. It was started by Cambridge Reproductive Health Consultants, a nonrofit that started this work in the US after operating in Thailand, Pakistan, and Uganda.
Between July 2023 and March 2024, WeCount says that shield law groups mailed over 68,000 kits to residents of ban states. WeCount said that shield-law providers provided about 9,500 medication abortions in March 2024. Almost 20% of abortions use drugs sent by mail (whether from a bricks and mortar clinic to a virtual-only operation). MAP has four providers, oneof them a 74-year-old doctor who was unable to obtain an abortion when she was 18, so she surrendered the baby for adoption--a "deeply traumatic and defining" experience.
Orders for pills will be filled up to the 11th week of pregnancy, so the pills can be delivered by the 12th week; most are before nine weeks. The list price is $250, but the average patient pays about $130, and one-third pay $25 or less.
Congratulations on your upcoming book release and great reviews. You are an easy- to- read informative writer and I appreciate all your hard work. This info is vital as is your leadership. Thank you!
Pre-ordered the book and can't wait! Congratulations, Jessica!
Me, too! Looking forward to it.
Jessica i had the pleasure of pre-ordering your book from my local bookshop today. I can't wait to read it!
I am a 74 yr old family doctor and many of my colleagues have supported this piece. as a new author it is not likely to get accepted and i welcome your review and suggestions.
***
A Letter to my Male Patients: A Family Physician speaks on the danger of anti-abortion legislation (with permission from his spouse to share their story)
===
Are you a man in a relationship with a woman considering an abortion?
In many states, male legislators made abortion a criminal activity.
Fifty years old, I was a 25-year-old medical intern living with my girlfriend when she became pregnant. I like to imagine I was unselfish but that was not true. I was unsure of myself and my commitment to our relationship. I postponed my support, disguising my ambivalence with exhaustion. My partner chose an abortion.
She was adamant this was her decision to make.
She was fierce about this.
About her right to control her body. Yet she wanted to talk with me, in the privacy of our home, about her dreams of a family and our shared purpose. She had witnessed her mother bearing twelve children in twenty years with no reproductive options. My partner would never submit to these lack of choices.
The US anti-abortion movement is about men controlling women’s bodies, sanctioned by the state that entitles them to this power. It is coercive reproduction. This movement uses moral and religious rationalizations to impose this legislation. It wants the legal authority to define who a man can love, how he can love and be loved, and when to start a family.
But this movement is not about saving children’s lives. States with anti-abortion legislation suffer the country’s worst perinatal mortality rates. Anti-abortion legislators are concerned with power.
This legislation is more than an assault on women. This movement violates the bedrock American principle of privacy within our homes. Project 2025 intends to impose this ideology through legislation upon all aspects of our lives; silencing, condemning, punishing, and persecuting those who oppose it. Opposing self-determination is the hallmark of the authoritarian state.
The recent Supreme Court Dobbs decision sets us back fifty years. Back then, I was unclear about my part in this critical family decision-making process. But my partner had no illusions. The Roe v Wade ruling awarded her the power to make decisions that had been denied to her mother and created massive hardships that women had endured for generations, hardships justified with exhortations to sacrifice, devotion, and religious fidelity, calling their opposition selfish and immoral.
I had to consider supporting a person I loved who was facing a serious life-changing decision. I did not have to accept the lie that I could only be who the state wanted me to be, the lie that I was incapable of loving my partner in all the ways she wanted to be loved. I could not control her, but I could support her.
Some men may not consider anti-abortion legislation as their concern.
But restricting reproductive freedom is more than coercion of women. It is about intrusive control by the state over human relationships: How we experience intimacy. The meaning of a family.
I encourage men to avoid using the approval of the state to mask our own emotional issues. This rationalization does not make men stronger. It makes us weaker. We are better than that.
Unexpected crises occur in every relationship. These are opportunities to cultivate dignity and self-respect. Supporting our partners during difficult decisions is how relationships grow. We can demonstrate compassion. We can stand beside our partners with kindness, courage, and integrity. Anti-abortion legislation is more than an assault on women. It’s an assault on men and their relationships with the women they love. It is an assault on every relationship in a free society.
I suggest you look into Men4Choice. They may be able to give you some support and ideas on how to get your opinion piece published. And I think you will find some allies there.
Already pre-ordered the book Jessica!!
Pre-ordered your book just now on bookshop.org, to pass on a little bit of support (for free!) to a wonderful local non-chain bookstore. ❤️👏🏼
I couldn’t figure out how to post a screenshot but book ordered!
Ship to:
annamae
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO
View or manage order
Abortion
Their Lies
wund the Truths
Jessien Valenta
Abortion: Our Bodies,
Rachel E. Gross, "When 'Abortion' Wasn't a Dirty Word," New York Times (Aug. 13, 2024), https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/13/science/medical-history-abortion.html discusses the history of terminology about pregnancy loss. In the 19th century, the words "abortion" and "miscarriage" were used interchangeably for early pregnancy loss--often identified as spontaneous, if nothing was done to terminate the pregnancy, missed, if some tissue remained in the uterus, or "habitual" if there were a number of miscarriages in sequence. In the 19th century, newspaper ads for allegedly abortifacient drugs advertised "removing obstructions" or regulating "female irregularity."
The article says that 19th century medical science (such as it was) didn't distinguish between reasons for pregnancy loss; "most miscarriages were managed safely at home." By the 1840s, one reason male obstetricians said they were more scientific than female midwives was that they had a more complex terminology, defining abortion as pregnancy loss in the first three months of gestation, and miscarriage after formation of the placenta.
In 1857, gynecologist Dr. Horatio Storer, to promote his belief that life began at conception, campaigned to make induced abortion illegal--and by 1910, all the states had criminalized abortion. Storer referred to abortions not involving a doctor as "criminal abortions," whereas "therapeutic abortions" involved a doctor.
In the 1980s, however, standard medical terminology began to distinguish between the terms "miscarriage" and "abortion".
When I went to RN school in the 90's the medical terminology proper term for miscarriage is Spontaneous abortion. This was doubly enforced when I specialized in Surgical Technology. They stopped using the term to patients because of the anti-abortion whackos, but among ourselves comonly used the term.
Taber's which is the medical terminology bible was the source of my education at the time.
In case that link takes you to a paywalled page, the article has been archived at https://archive.ph/n2vsa
Thank you!
The medical term for a miscarriage is spontaneous abortion.
Thank you!
Yes, and what is commonly referred to as an abortion is medically speaking an induced abortion, but the article didn't discuss that.
Pre-ordered your book through this really cool and local downtown bookstore in Bozeman, Montana ❤️❤️
Just ordered your book via Audible…thank you for writing it!!
Thanks for all the news, much appreciated! I’ll preorder your book for our local independent bookstore.
Re: Book. Okay, done. Does anyone know what we do with the screenshot once we’ve taken it?
Jessica Piper has a terrific post up about the movement in Missouri to get abortion before voters. It will cheer you up!
https://jesspiper.substack.com/p/abortion-is-on-the-ballot-in-missouri
I preordered a long time ago. I think on Amazon? Does that count for whatever “perks” you are offering?
In Illinois, Ascension is in the process of selling nine of their hospitals. I’m not happy with who the hospitals are being sold to- Prime Health- because it is a for-profit entity. I believe that all health care should be run by not-for-profit groups. But, at least these nine hospitals will no longer be run by a catholic organization.
The Wall Street Journal, of all people, ran an admiring article by Scott Calvert, "The Parties Where Volunteers Pack Abortion Pills for Red-State Women," (Aug. 13, 2024), https://www.wsj.com/us-news/abortion-pill-parties-shipping-148e3c15. Doctors, other professionals, and retirees near Boston filled 350 boxes with mifi/miso, medical information, and a note, "We wish you the best!" The parties support the MAP (Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project."
MAP is almost a year old; it applies the Massachusetts shield law to provide the pills. It was started by Cambridge Reproductive Health Consultants, a nonrofit that started this work in the US after operating in Thailand, Pakistan, and Uganda.
Between July 2023 and March 2024, WeCount says that shield law groups mailed over 68,000 kits to residents of ban states. WeCount said that shield-law providers provided about 9,500 medication abortions in March 2024. Almost 20% of abortions use drugs sent by mail (whether from a bricks and mortar clinic to a virtual-only operation). MAP has four providers, oneof them a 74-year-old doctor who was unable to obtain an abortion when she was 18, so she surrendered the baby for adoption--a "deeply traumatic and defining" experience.
Orders for pills will be filled up to the 11th week of pregnancy, so the pills can be delivered by the 12th week; most are before nine weeks. The list price is $250, but the average patient pays about $130, and one-third pay $25 or less.