Buckle up y'all there's a thread a'comin... First, @xan_desanctis is both right and wrong here about abortions later in pregnancy. Let's get into it shall we? https://twitter.com/NRO/status/1199199597249400832

And 1st a quick note: Unless the abortion is performed during an emergency, it's elective. A medical procedure you choose, that you schedule, is "elective." I had an ELECTIVE brain surgery– it was scheduled, not an emergency. Elective ≠ frivolous! Now let's get into it.

First where she's RIGHT. Ppl seek later abortions for reasons other than bad fetal diagnoses. Very true! The pro-choice movement has done patients a huge disservice by only centering these stories. So we'd love to talk more about why ppl need later care with a big caveat:

People crave context around abortions but then use that context to determine who is worthy and unworthy of accessing care. Let's not! Let's reject the impulse to judge or approve of anyone's decisions since we don't know them. To answer why some ppl seek care later than others:

Some people seek abortion care later in pregnancy because they found out new information after the 1st trimester. The new information could be a poor fetal diagnosis, a sudden disruptive life event, or just that they're pregnant (more common than you might think!)

Others had trouble accessing a desired abortion earlier. Most people faced obstacles to obtaining care as early as they would like: they faced legal restrictions, could not afford care earlier (made worse by insurance laws like Hyde), were lied to by a CPC, the list is endless.

And many abortion seekers have trouble accessing a provider (or healthcare period). Privileged people (like us), able to travel to and pay a provider, are in the minority. Later abortion seekers are generally among the most underserved and most impacted by abortion restrictions.

Because abortion restrictions affect people differently based on their incomes, race, insurance status, immigration status, age, etc - factors that have nothing to do with abortion - they are discriminatory.

Are you more comfortable with discrimination than abortion? Is your discomfort worth compromising on the backs of the already most discriminated against? Abortion is healthcare and it doesn't stop being healthcare when the pregnancy reaches a point that makes you uncomfortable.

How valuable is your discomfort about later abortion? Is it worth denying someone healthcare? Someone you don't know whose life circumstances you could never understand? OR is it possible to be both uncomfortable AND see that abortion restrictions are harmful and discriminatory?

We think it is possible to hold both of these ideas at the same time. A legal restriction is the wrong tool to resolve your discomfort. We are much less interested in parsing why someone seeks care as we are challenging restrictions which we KNOW are harmful and discriminatory.

As patients who experienced an abortion restriction and then were lucky enough to surmount it purely due to access to money, we have to ask for what is right: access to abortion throughout pregnancy for Everyone. No exceptions. No restrictions. No discrimination.

We believe that if you’ve decided to get an abortion, you should be able to get one without delay, without judgement, and without going broke.

If you have read this far and are interested in learning more, please visit http://laterabortion.org  for the #facts or our explainer at https://www.patientforward.org/later-abortion  or the stories of patients like @bethvial https://www.teenvogue.com/story/what-it-was-like-to-get-a-later-abortion

Oh and almost forgot the most important part! Please include abortion access orgs in your end of year giving- these are the folks who are busting their asses to help patients access care: @AbortionFunds @BrigidAlliance @ARC_Southeast @MidwestAccess