WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 18: Director of the Christian Defense Coalition Rev. Patrick Mahoney speaks as a small group of anti-abortion activists rally against the availability of abortion pills at neighborhood pharmacies outside of a CVS Pharmacy on January 18, 2023 in Washington, DC. Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made a regulatory change that now allows retail pharmacies to offer abortion pills to people who have a prescription.DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES
**Trigger and Content Warning: Medical trauama**
By Abby Johnson, Newsweek, February 27, 2023
Imagine if a person who experienced something traumatic had to revisit the site of their trauma every single day. If they suffer from pain, whether physical or emotional, from that trauma and had to go back again and again, out of necessity, there could be some horrible consequences for their mental health. Where would they go for help, especially if the culture they lived in told them that what they experienced is "normal" and should be celebrated as freedom?
Today, more than half of all abortions in this country are done by medication, a two-pill regimen a woman takes to expel the baby from her uterus, very often alone at home. These women aren't told what they will experience or how much pain they may be in. They aren't told they may feel like they are dying because of the pain and the loss of blood. They aren't told that, if they are further along in pregnancy than they thought, they may see the "product of conception"—looking very much like a tiny baby—come out of their body.
I worked at Planned Parenthood for eight years, including as a clinic director. I also had two abortions myself, one of which was a medication abortion. It was a horrific experience I wouldn't wish on anyone. The number of medication abortions is only going up and the mental health community does not seem equipped to deal with it—or even acknowledge there may be a problem. Most therapists and clinicians don't ask about reproductive loss or have any idea how past abortions can severely affect the mental health of both women and men in the present.
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