There can be no restrictions or hurdles placed between a person and their access to care.

 

No one has a right to stand between them and the choices they can make about their own healthcare.

 

This is not a stance I take lightly, it stems from a decision I had to make on behalf of my wife and I.

 

To say that she would not be alive today without unfettered access to that care is the absolute truth, not hyperbole. 

 

On October 25th, 2012, my wife lay bleeding on a hospital bed. She was 20 weeks pregnant with our second child, a little girl we would name Addison, and had suffered a placental abruption. The long and short of the tale is she was hemorrhaging blood faster than her dedicated healthcare team could replace it. 
 

I was informed of two options - I could hope and pray for a miracle while my wife and unborn child bled out, or they could induce labor, saving Amber (my wife) and we would be able hold our daughter ( Addison ) as she faded over the next few hours. Time slowed to a crawl, and in that agonizing instant I considered every possibly conceivable outcome. Praying for a “miracle” wasn’t an option while my wife lay at death’s door.

 

The choice was clear. I had to save my wife and we could hold our daughter while she faded.

 

The Supreme Court decided to protect a woman’s right to choose on January 22nd, 1973. (Roe V Wade) 

 

Since that judgement, that decision has been attacked. It has been dissected and challenged time and time again from every possibly conceivable angle.

 

Roe V Wade was not simply a judgment in favor of a person’s right to bodily autonomy. It allows educated healthcare professionals and informed families the option to choose a treatment that aligns with all of the factors they face, in ANY GIVEN HEALTHCARE SITUATION.

 

There is no doubt that the drug (Pitocin) administered to my wife was done in her best interest, and as such saved her life. However, that drug has come under scrutiny in relation to labor induced terminations.

Medicine is by far an imperfect science, and it is impossible to foresee every probability.

 

With this ideal in mind, there can be no uncrossable line in the potential care of anyone, in any conceivable situation. No line can be drawn that covers any and all eventualities.

 

No Doctor, no Nurse, no Physicians Assistant should hold sway over judgement of care at any point. 

 

That is why all potential avenues of reproductive care must be accessible and offered at all times to every patient, in any and all situations.

 

EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.