Opinion: Sometimes abortion is most compassionate action a mother can take

In 2018, when I was 11 weeks pregnant and at the doctor’s office for an ultrasound, I learned my pregnancy was not viable. I was devastated. This was my second pregnancy and my first had ended in miscarriage.

At this point, my doctor at Lee Health gave me a choice. One was to let the fetus pass naturally. That could take weeks. It could be very painful. It could leave behind tissue that would then have to be surgically removed and could endanger my health. The other option was a D&C, a 15-minute surgery that doctors routinely performed.

I chose the D&C. It was performed a few days later with no complications. Having the autonomy to choose a D&C was so important in allowing me to heal and move forward during the lowest point of my life. I went on to have a healthy son who recently turned 3.

In 2024, had I faced the same circumstances, doctors may have been reluctant to perform the D&C, which is technically listed as an abortion on my medical records. Florida’s current abortion ban prohibits doctors from performing abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. Most women don’t know that they are pregnant at six weeks. Most doctors won’t even schedule your first obstetrics appointment until eight weeks of pregnancy. And there are many complications that can arise after six weeks.

Sometimes having an abortion is the most compassionate action a mother can take when the other choice is to deliver a child with undeveloped organs who will not survive outside of the womb. Making families experiencing these circumstances travel to another state to receive medical care or to continue the pregnancy to term when the baby will not survive is wrong.

Florida’s abortion ban will push good gynecologists to choose another state to practice where their medical care is dictated by the Hippocratic Oath and not politicians.

Ensuring that women get the best possible medical care is a nonpartisan issue. It is something that both men and women can support. Vote “Yes” on Amendment 4 in November to get politicians out of private, medical decisions.

Kristalyn Loson Atwood is an attorney and resident of Fort Myers.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Opinion: Sometimes abortion is most compassionate action a mother can take