To the Editor:

I am an registered nurse, and have been for more years than I’ll admit. Understanding my HIPAA responsibilities, here is a true but masked story about a night shift in the late 1960s in the ICU of a large city hospital. One of my patients that night was a teenage girl; I even remember her name. We were doing everything we could to keep her alive, but she died — died from a tetanus infection after an illegal back alley abortion several days earlier. I was there when she died. Her family didn’t even bother to show up that night. She experienced a horrible death. As I prepared her body for transfer to the morgue, I cried. With reflection, my personal and professional beliefs and values about abortion landed softly in my heart and have remained steadfast.    

Fast forward to 2019. Abortion has been legal since 1973, several years too late for my young patient. It is settled law, says Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (2018). Moreover, there are numerous methods of birth control, some more reliable than others. That said, some people wonder why abortion is still necessary. Why were there about 27,000 abortions performed in North Carolina last year, about 87 percent within in the first trimester (12 weeks)?

Here’s a sampling of reasons culled from personal and professional experience, as well as stories from an anonymous OB/GYN physician. I am a divorced mother with a full-time job; I can’t afford to feed the children I already have. I am in an abusive relationship and can’t leave. I went into heart failure last time. My tubes were tied; I never intended to have more kids. I’m 14 weeks along and addicted to heroin. I’m married and had an affair; I made a mistake and don’t want to lose my family. I got drunk and don’t know who the father is. I was raped. I am 13 years old. He had a vasectomy; I never thought I could get pregnant. I am 48 years old. I have breast cancer and am getting chemotherapy. I think I want children someday but I am not ready to be a mother now. My uterus ruptured during my last pregnancy. My diabetes is out of control and I not eligible for Medicaid. My baby has multiple anomalies. I have a full ride scholarship to Princeton starting next month. I am scared I will kill myself. That’s why. 

If you would never have an abortion because your religion says it’s is wrong, I respect your choice. If you believe that your fertilized ovum is already a baby, I respect your belief. If you would never have an abortion because you believe that abortion is murder, I respect your belief. If you are impregnated by a rapist and believe you have the duty to carry the pregnancy to term, I respect that too. In fact, I respect whatever choices you make and beliefs you hold about YOUR reproductive rights. I am not going to try and change your mind. I speak on behalf of the girls and women who make different choices or have different beliefs. Please show us the same respect. Respect choice. 

Elaine Slocumb

Bryson City