Illegal Abortion in the Era After Roe vs. Wade

Think that illegal abortion is a thing of the past in post-Roe vs. Wade America?  Well thankfully, it is far less common.  But if you thought the practice was eradicated, you were sadly both very naive and very mistaken.

The pills were misoprostol, a prescription drug that is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for reducing gastric ulcers and that researchers say is commonly, though illegally, used within the Dominican community to induce abortion. Two new studies by reproductive-health providers suggest that improper use of such drugs is one of myriad methods, including questionable homemade potions, frequently employed in attempts to end pregnancies by women from fervently anti-abortion cultures despite the widespread availability of safe, legal and inexpensive abortions in clinics and hospitals.

One study surveyed 1,200 women, mostly Latinas, in New York, Boston and San Francisco and is expected to be released in the spring; the other, by Planned Parenthood, involved a series of focus groups with 32 Dominican women in New York and Santo Domingo. Together, they found reports of women mixing malted beverages with aspirin, salt or nutmeg; throwing themselves down stairs or having people punch them in the stomach; and drinking teas of avocado leaf, pine wood, oak bark and mamon fruit peel.

Interviews with several community leaders and individual women in Washington Heights echoed the findings, and revealed even more unconventional methods like “juice de jeans,” a noxious brew made by boiling denim hems.

“Some women prefer to have a more private experience with their abortion, which is certainly understandable,” said Dr. Daniel Grossman, an obstetrician with Ibis Reproductive Health in San Francisco, which joined Gynuity Health Projects in New York in conducting the larger study. “The things they mention are, ‘It is easier.’ It was recommended to them by a friend or a family member.”

The NY Times article focuses mainly on New York City’s Dominican communities, and it’s both very interesting and very frightening.  It’s also exactly what anti-choice forces, who frankly are never going to “end” abortion and deep down must know this, want.

Why do women seek out illegal and unsafe abortions when legal abortions are available?  Well, there is no one simple answer.  Part of the answer is that abortion is not nearly as available as we think.  Some of the rest:

Researchers studying the phenomenon cite several factors that lead Dominican and other immigrant women to experiment with abortifacients: mistrust of the health-care system, fear of surgery, worry about deportation, concern about clinic protesters, cost and shame.

Surely, the entirety of this cannot be blamed on anti-choice policies.  But the majority can be.

The last three reasons on that list are a direct result of the anti-choice movement.  The reason of clinic protesters is clear enough — they’re intimidating, frightening and embarrassing, and that’s exactly their hope, to scare people away from abortion clinics.  What they either don’t realize or don’t care about is that many women won’t be scared out of the abortion (and stuck with a kid that they don’t want, can’t afford, etc.), but scared out of getting a safe abortion and instead try to induce one at home.

This ties directly into shame.  Shame is the point.  By calling abortion murder, by saying that women who have them or support abortion rights are “baby killers,” by saying that good, Christian women would continue their pregnancies despite all the reasons not to, they’re looking to shame the women who have them.  Plain and simple.

And cost is a huge issue.  It’s compounded by the extra security that abortion clinics must employ, and the fact that federal (and generally state) funds cannot be used to pay for or subsidize abortions.  We treat abortion differently from every other medical procedure and treat it as unworthy of insurance coverage or government funding; obviously the cost is going to be high.

And of course, undocumented immigrants generally don’t have access to insurance or Medicare, anyway.  Immigration status is yet another issue, and a largely separate one.  But it would be foolish to not note that the same conservatives who have such compassion for fetuses don’t generally have it for undocumented immigrants.  Though there are many moderates and so-called liberals who can be and are bigoted against women’s rights and immigrant rights (and pro-choice people who oppose immigrant rights), the fact is that a majority of anti-abortion opponents are conservative, and so are a majority of those who support enforcing our ridiculous, punitive and racist immigration laws.  And those who want to enforce those laws want to breed fear in immigrant communities.

There is no one answer to this problem.  And not all of it is going to be political, so let’s get that straight right away.  Some of it is going to be about medical professionals trying to find ways to instill more trust in under-served communities.  Some of it is going to be about education.

But ending the shame and fear surrounding abortion?  Recognizing and dealing with the fact that the shame and fear influence people into making dangerous decisions?  Ending anti-choice policies that limit access (waiting periods, limits on funding, “informed consent” laws, parental consent laws, etc.) and creating a system where health care is accessible to all (and for all services) instead of a privileged few?  And yes, ending our heinous, bigoted and inhumane immigration policies?  All of that would be a damn good start regarding this issue and much  more.  All of it would go a long way to protecting women from attempting at-home abortions that put them at risk for infection, incomplete abortion, infertility and even death.

And until we get around to that, lives are hanging in the balanace.

UPDATE: For important updates/corrections to this story, see this blog post.

Tagged as: abortion, illegal abortion, immigration, new york, reproductive health, reproductive justice, reproductive rights, women’s health