Alone in a bathroom: The fear and uncertainty of a post-Roe medication abortion

[RandySF]

Angel had wanted to talk to a doctor before she took the pills to end her pregnancy, worried about how they might interact with medication she took for her heart condition. But in her home state of Oklahoma, where almost all abortions are banned, that wasn’t an option.

The pain kicked in after about an hour, around midnight on a Sunday in January, eventually becoming sharp enough that the 23-year-old said she struggled to stand. While Angel would be fine by the next morning, she worried that something might be very wrong as she lay on the cold bathroom tile, her body racked by some of the worst pain she could remember.

When Angel’s fiancé came in to check on her, she was having diarrhea while vomiting into their popcorn bowl. “F---,” she remembered yelling, over and over. “I feel like I need to push.”

Overwhelming evidence shows that abortion pills are safe and effective, and that many patients who take them go through the process without much difficulty, experiencing little more than the sharp cramping and bleeding of an unusually heavy period. That is true even when the pills, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration with a prescription for use through 10 weeks of pregnancy, are taken somewhat independently — administered by a doctor over text, email, or a call and mailed to the patient at home.

But the experience can feel very different in states where abortion is illegal. As more women in states with abortion bans choose to end their pregnancies on their own, without directly interacting with a medical professional, they are thrust into a largely ad hoc, unregulated system of online and grass-roots abortion pill distributors — an experience that, while deemed generally safe by medical experts, can be confusing, scary and, at times, deeply traumatic.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2024/abortion-pill-experience-stories/

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

1. f*ck repubs for doing this to women

[NanaCat]

4. Women were taking this med before Dobbs

And, even then, some of them didn't realise what they were getting themselves into. Even the sweetest and gentlest MD will tell you that patients rarely listen to them about side effects. They treat doctors like vending machines--yeah yeah yeah give me meds and let me out of here. I know, because my Mum used to deal with that, all the time, and it frustrated her to no end. She was shocked if 5% of her patients didn't complain later about something she warned them could happen from a med or procedure. People don't listen to 'could.' And too often, they don't even listen to warnings about 'will.'

We need to take some responsibility for our own medical decisions--which includes understanding what we're risking when we take certain meds. If you want to take, say, an abortifacient with little help from an MD, something that involves considerable risks by its very nature, then you need to take the time in advance to find trusted sources that will discuss what to expect, like Planned Parenthood. They explain side effects and 'get to hospital now!' warning signs in plain English--and, honestly, they tend to explain it more clearly and with more compassion than the average MD.

Yes, it sucks that women are having to take these meds with little or no input from a live doctor when the expected and normal effects kick in--and these are not easy to endure with an abortifacient. But some of the supposed problems stem from not making the effort to know what to expect in advance. What's sad is that this ignorance existed before Dobbs. You can find literally thousands of web pages with women complaining about how painful medication abortion could be, long before 2022, despite how they had MDs to guide them through the process, most of whom probably did explain to them what could happen.

And it went in one ear and out the other.

[Hope22]

5. Wow!

I’ll just say that no matter how many times the instructions are read, taking this medication knowing that the emergency room is not an option is enough to send anyone into a panic attack. The crime is states putting women in this position! When receiving information from physicians, a person who is under stress, afraid and alone no matter what the condition can have trouble actually hearing the the words from a physician! IT WENT IN ONE EAR AND OUT THE OTHER……simply heartless. I feel physically ill just reading this!


Heartless …bending toward hateful!!

[NanaCat]

2. Welcome to what miscarriage often feels like

And that's what this is: A medication-induced miscarriage, with all that comes with it. Did these women really think that would be a pain-free experience? Did they think the pharma companies implanted some fentanyl into the misoprostol or mifepristone?

Miscarriages by their nature can hurt, because something is literally forcing an implanted embryo to detach from the uterus. If you cut your finger does that cause no pain? Sure, sometimes you don't feel it at the time of the cut, but it's rare that you feel no pain at all from it, sooner or later. So why expect a miscarriage not to have the potential to hurt?

And if they think that's bad, what do they think childbirth will be like?

Sheesh. Why didn't they read the data pages that come with these abortifacients warning that cramping can occur, and may be severe? Or look it up online in advance? Planned Parenthood has webpages talking about the potential side effects and contraindications of these meds, in plain English.

Then again, maybe I'm the oddball for actually reading the fact sheets that come with meds, or look them up in advance, when possible. I've done it right in front of a doc recommending one during a checkup, because, gee, it might just save my life to be aware of how ABC drug either has some side effects I'd prefer to avoid, or is contraindicated for someone taking XYZ medication, or who has PDQ condition...ya think?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. what the fuck is this shit right here

[mnhtnbb]

6. Welcome to the health care equivalent

of self checkout at the store.
Do it yourself project. Whatever you want to call it.
It makes me angry. It makes me sad. As a 73 year old woman, I've lived a lifetime with the misogyny that is pervasive in our society and I experienced a premature stillbirth in 1989 in a state where, today, I wouldn't be given the health care that I received then.
Fuck Republicans is all I can say. Fuck every damn last one of them for their self righteous, smarmy attitude that women should not be allowed the right to make their own health care decisions with access to the safe means, knowledgeable advice, and resources to carry them out.