Now, I am extremely pro-choice (I hesitate to bring up the topic of abortion due to the insanely intense feelings people have about it however…) but there are times when I can’t help but be disgusted with people and their choices. I believe elective abortion should be for both defects or abnormalities, or the rare “oops” event when a condom breaks or when you are young and stupid and drunk. I do not believe it should be akin to a chiropractic spinal manipulation – something you when you feel like it. Anyway, that said, the other day I had a woman in her late 30′s who came in with typical first trimester bleeding. No biggie 99% of the time.
I always ask the patient how many times they’ve been pregnant, number of deliveries, miscarriages, abortions, etc. This time the woman said “Well, I have 4 kids. I’ve been pregnant, oh God, let me see, hmmm, about 12-15 times. Some of the those were miscarriages, some were abortions. I can’t remember! I can tell you the last abortion I had was last year. You can call the doctor and he can tell you the exact numbers”.
I had to hold my tongue to not recommend a more “radical” procedure.
i had a friend in college who told me she had aborted four pregnancies… as a teenager, she had been kicked out and lived on the streets. still, i was shocked. this is beyond shocking. this is appalling.
Yeah, someone like that just needs to be sterilized.
I had an abortion after the doofus who performed my tubal ligation left one tube open and I became pregnant 3 months after the tubal ligation. The tube is open for certain; we checked. I’d never been unintentionally pregnant before, nor since. If I did become pregnant again, I’d have another abortion. It’s highly unlikely, because my husband has since had a vasectomy.
Female “sterilization” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Both IUDs and vasectomies have lower failure rates.
Even if you are pro-choice, that is so gross.
I am pretty passionately pro-choice but I do agree with Susan. That is kind of gross.
Pro Choice and yuck.
Signed, not wanting more kids and missing one uterus.
Here is a question though. How hard is it to get a tubal with no insurance? If you don’t qualify for state medical care and cannot afford health insurance, are there programs to help? I was lucky, I have health insurance.
Good Lord. I’ve never had an abortion or miscarriage but I understand it’s a lot of pain, both mental and emotional. That poor woman must have some serious psych issues – and I feel bad for her GYN too, because her reproductive organs must be FUBAR’ed.
Sounds like someone needs an education in birth control, specifically that it should actually be used. Despicable behavior on her part, unless she happens to be one of those who gets pregnant at the drop of a hat no matter the birth control, then I feel bad for her. However, based on her reply, she didn’t seem to be that phased by it that much.
Read somewhere that the failure rate of tubal ligation is somewhere around 1 in 250. If at the time my IUD is due to next be replaced I’ve fully decided not to have any more, I’m going with Essure or Adiana, both of which essentially plug the tubes at the uterus end and can be done in the office and actually can’t be reversed.
It can take some time to get a “free” tubal if you are uninsured and poor. BUT it is easy and FREE to get birth control from family planning. Or at least it still is until their federal funding gets cut.
I have never been pregnant, never had to have an abortion (thank goodness) and had my tubes tied at 30. Lack of insurance doesn’t give you a pass for lack of intelligence.
And heres another thought, how did she pay for all those abortions?
It’s a uterus- not a Clown Car !
I have seen a hx of 10+ TABs in a woman c a crazy social hx, lots of drug abuse, etc., in her early-mid twenties. and then rehab, school, grad school, and then a planned pregnancy in her mid 30s. good she didn’t have kids when she was being abused and using drugs. She should’ve been using birth control but drug use and abuse can clearly get in the way of that. It’s weird to see G11P0 on an emotionally stable person. It’s strange to have kids with intermittent abortions in between. I wonder what else was going on. I have seen a bunch of pill babies and a couple of IUD babies, even one where the IUD came out c the placenta.
I grew up in poverty. I would never recommend it to anyone. At least I grew up in a small town instead of an inner city. But how come “family planning” clinics won’t support free vasectomies? It’s quick, easy, few complications, and it works if you follow the doctor’s instructions.
(Yes you CAN get pregnant right after the man has a vasectomy.)
I saw a woman with 9 kids at the store. I bet the last 3 just walk right out of there, with a top hat and cane.
I can’t really judge…if a woman wants to use abortion as her sole form of birth control, then that is her choice. Personally, I would much rather see a woman carelessly getting pregnant over and over again and aborting rather than keeping the pregnancies and having the same “don’t give a crap” attitude toward the kids who didn’t ask to be born to begin with. Frankly I think it’d be cheaper to get on some form of birth control than to serial abort all the time, but to each their own.
I don’t see why a doctor wouldn’t sterilize her – it’s women who have no kids who must fight tooth and nail to get their tubes tied or Essured because doctors seem to think they’ll all change their minds. But since this woman seems content to shell out several hundred dollars every few months for an abortion (if she pays anything), I doubt she would voluntarily undergo sterilization.
So unless the US devises a catch-spay/neuter-release program for humans like the ones they have at animal shelters for serial breeders who know no better, this is just stuff that will continue to happen.