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In case you missed it, InDepthNH published an op-ed by Dr. Emily Zajano, a pediatric emergency physician, telling her abortion story. Dr. Zajano’s abortion saved her life, and New Hampshire Republicans are fighting to take away that choice away from Granite State women.
Read the full op-ed here.
Key Excerpts:
As a physician, I have dedicated my entire adult life to saving children’s lives. But I could not save my own daughters.
An ultrasound showed my beautiful, playful daughters. Their heartbeats were strong. They were fine. But there was bleeding in my abdomen. As a doctor, I knew this meant my babies and I were not safe.
I was facing the loss of my daughters. My husband was facing the loss of his daughters and his wife. I needed to survive.
That day, and two weeks later, two abortion procedures were performed that saved my life and preserved half of my uterus.
My abortions saved my life, allowed me to later have two healthy children, and allowed me to continue my work – to save your children’s lives.
Unfortunately, the expert medical care I received is now in jeopardy.
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year, anti-abortion politicians across the country have acted swiftly, state by state, to cut off access to safe, legal abortion for more than a third of American women. Now Congressional Republicans have introduced a federal 15 week abortion ban. For people in situations like mine, medical professionals are second guessing what conditions constitute medical emergencies and life-saving necessity with the threat of criminal penalties and costly fines hanging over their heads.
New Hampshire’s first abortion ban in modern history also took effect this year. At first, the ban on procedures at or after 24 weeks only had a very limited exception for the life of the mother but after tireless advocacy from families like ours, lawmakers added an exception for fatal fetal diagnoses when a fetus has no chance of survival outside the womb.
Abortion rights are on the ballot this November. It is essential we elect leaders at every level of government who respect bodily autonomy and will fight to ensure everyone has access to the health care they need without government interference.
New Hampshire can trust Tom Sherman, Maggie Hassan, Annie Kuster, and Chris Pappas to stand up for our reproductive freedom – in Congress and in Concord – because they have proven track records. And I urge you to research your local candidates for the Executive Council and state legislature, too.
As the only state in New England without protections for reproductive rights, the future of access to abortion – and even birth control – depends upon who we elect to represent us at the State House.
The anger, fear, and sadness many of us have felt since Roe v. Wade was overturned is understandable. But we cannot be complacent. We must take our emotions, our energy, and our hope to the ballot box on November 8 and elect candidates who will fight for us – no matter what.
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