Leslie wanted children so much that she turned to fertility treatment. She used IVF to become pregnant with her daughter, and fertility treatment again for her next pregnancy.
“I wanted children so much. I would have never wanted an abortion,” she shared.
Then she miscarried. While her baby passed on its own, she kept bleeding. She was bleeding so much that she went to an ER and later another doctor who performed a D&C, which is a procedure used in both miscarriage treatment and abortion care.
“Without that procedure, my baby would still be dead, but so would I. And my daughter would have lost her mother.”
“I was bleeding out. Dying. I was dying. Without that procedure, my baby would still be dead, but I would be too. And my daughter would have lost her mother.”
Since a D&C is used for both miscarriage and abortion care, doctors have experienced confusion and fear on if or when they can perform the procedure. Leslie, like others, worry that Idaho’s abortion ban creates uncertainty that could make doctors hesitate–and even leave women waiting for the care they need.
Today, she worries about other women who lose a pregnancy they wanted and still need help. “Another woman could be where I was: losing a baby she wanted, bleeding and needing someone to help her.”
