i made a quick guide to emergency contraceptives and weight. it’s print ready, formatted for copy paper from a home printer (3 sheets of paper, front and back, black and white/grayscale). you have to provide your own stapler, tho. sorry.
individual .pdf pages are included.
some info/disclaimers:
i state it in the pdf, but i’m not a medical professional. this is meant to present information, not tell you to forego ECPs. if you have a doc you trust with your body, talk to them about what option is best for you
i do not use gendered language, or language like “uterus havers”
i use the word “obese” once in quotations when referencing the arbitrary groups in the cited studies. otherwise, “fat” is used as a neutral descriptor with the acknowledgement that it does not describe everyone over the weights mentioned
my name is not on the pdf. if you print and share this, do not credit me
abortion rights and trans rights (and gay rights more broadly) are interconnected and the same people are behind the attempts and efforts to eliminate them all.
If you don’t control your own body, you control nothing at all.
Abortion is still legal in 49 states! Visitineedana.comto find a clinic near you.
There is a strong network of abortion funds throughout the country that have provided financial and practical support for decades! Visit http://abortionfunds.org/need-abortion to find your local one.
Anyone interested in promoting abortion access in the United States should donate toKeep Our Clinics to keep independent clinics (which provide 2/3 of abortions) open, or to their local abortion funds!
Anyone who’s taking or planning on taking abortion pills at home can call or text ReproCare at 1-833-226-7821 for information, support, and referrals.
There are ways to legally get an abortion without your parents’ permission if you are under 18! Visit the Judicial Bypass Wiki to find information specific to each state or call the JB Helpline: 1-844-868-2812
the fact that we have ceded any and all discussion of systemic misogyny and patriarchy or even acknowledgement that it exists to r*dfems is so fucking wild like i feel so insane having to say this but it’s not gender essentialist to acknowledge that there are structural inequities built into society because it’s not about individual men being Born Evil or whatever oh my god
like absolutely true that a lot of self-proclaimed progressives online do not know how to recognize radfem talking points and thus very easily buy into them and yes absolutely true that the big one is that all men (meaning anyone assigned male at birth) is inherently evil like biologically and that is the root of all of society’s problems but i feel like just completely abandoning any concept of gendered structural inequality is not in fact rejecting radfem philosophies but literally also buying into them because you are buying into the idea that structural inequality is equivalent to and indistinguishable from (their flawed understanding of) biology.
when we are talking about structural issues we are not (or should not be) talking about individuals being Bad on a personal level but somehow that is were we are at now, that is the level of analysis we are doing, like this happens literally all the time with people thinking or talking about homophobia as if it is purely about individual personal hatred so the rallying cry is “love trumps hate!” or racism is going to be solved purely by individual white people realizing the error of their ways and resolving to be better when like.. it is literally about things that are structurally baked into the foundation of our society, legally, politically, economically, and yes culturally, and thus quite literally by definition not purely about individuals being born evil.
the fact that people will see arguments about structural inequality and reject them outright because they (falsely) and hyperbolically boil it down to “oh you’re just saying all men are born evil” is not only missing the point but also just ceding ground to terfs and fully allowing them to set the terms of the discourse. saying “anyone who has anything critical to say about men on a structural/societal level must be a terf because they must be making gender essentialist assumptions about the inherent nature of individuals from birth” is literally just accepting the basic premise that structural issues are fundamentally biological which they are absolutely fucking not.
by interpreting any discussion of structural inequality to be gender essentialist you are in fact the one making that assumption and accepting that false equivalence. like i do not think it’s useful to engage or try to argue with radfems because honestly they truly are just fucking stupid but then i see people who are so afraid to touch anything related to feminism with a ten foot pole out of a fear that they might accidentally be engaging with radfem thought that like.. we are literally just giving it all to them. out of our desire to not engage we’ve just entirely abandoned anything related to any real meaningful feminism that approaches any structural issues beyond like individual-level “just let women do whatever they want” hot takes and rather than shutting terfs down it is allowing them to just fucking run rampant. we have given them their power. i see people labeling the word patriarchy as gender essentialist terf rhetoric and i’m just like. what the fuck are we doing here. what the fuck is going on. fucking look around you jesus fucking christ
it’s literally not even difficult to connect trans rights to abortion rights when you remember part of the panic over letting trans kids access gender affirming care is “but WHAT IF this prevents them from having children?” it is ALL about bioessentialism and maintaining power through enforcing gender roles
We need to sound the alarm within pro-abortion circles for late term termination for medical reasons
If Roe vs. Wade gets overturned, gestational parents are going to die because they don’t have access to TFMR / compassionate induction. They’re going to lose their own parental rights to take their children off of life support due to a terminal condition and/or risk to the gestational parent’s life.
Circulating info about abortion prior to 12 weeks is so so important but abortions requiring a D&E or an induction are still going to be interfered with and we need to talk about it
This Alabama ban wants to ban abortion after 15 weeks. Let’s talk about people whose pregnancies were wanted.
Non-invasive prenatal testing can’t even be performed until 10 weeks gestation, and results can take 10 days- 3+ weeks to return, especially if there’s a low fetal fraction on the first draw, which is common for fetuses that have conditions that are incompatible with life. Invasive prenatal testing like chorionic villus sampling can’t be done until at least 10-12 weeks gestation, and amniocentesis cannot be done until 15-18 weeks gestation. The anatomy scan is generally done between 19-21 weeks. And that’s not even accounting for scheduling waits.
Parents of children with conditions that aren’t compatible with life are given no time to decide, and are now going to be forced to carry their terminally ill children until they are ultimately stillborn; or face hundreds of thousands of dollars in palliative care costs, and that’s if the gestational parent even survives with the risk of carrying a terminal child to full term.
My child was diagnosed incompatible with life and carrying them to term would have endangered my own life.
The Supreme Court is prepared to murder gestational parents alongside their fetuses, or drown them in medical debt as punishment for carrying a terminal baby.
Leave no online footprint of searches or purchases. Digital Defense Fund’s abortion privacy guide is your go-to resource for this. Using private browsers, two-factor authentication, encrypted messaging, strong passwords, etc. is critical. Google searches have been presented as evidence in an SMA trial before. Do not leave a digital trail.
Use the medications properly to prevent interactions with healthcare providers. The pills are very effective, but they have to be used right. Carefully follow the instructions provided on the How to Use Abortion Pill website. Note that misoprostol tablets should always be taken by dissolving them under the tongue. Do NOT insert misoprostol vaginally if you are self-managing an abortion. While this is medically safe, it can leave incriminating pill remnants that can be detected in the vagina during a pelvic exam if you end up needing to seek medical care.
If it’s not an emergency but you need expert health advice, use a free calling service like Google Voice to call or text the Miscarriage + Abortion Hotline at 1-833-246-2632. Medical complications are very uncommon with abortion pills, but they’re not impossible. The M+A Hotline is safe to use and is staffed by trustworthy clinicians who volunteer their time to help those who choose SMA. Do not use your own phone number to call as this will create a record that is visible to your cell service provider.
Don’t disclose any information about SMA to emergency room staff if you do need to seek medical care. This is how most people who are arrested for SMA are reported. Healthcare providers are almost always who calls the police in cases of SMA criminalization. Contrary to popular belief, HIPAA does not protect your private health information from being shared with police if you are suspected of doing something that could be considered a crime. If you believe you need to seek urgent medical care, do not hesitate to go. Say “I think I’m having a miscarriage” and provide your symptoms. Do not mention any use of or purchase of abortion pills. There is no widely available test to detect misoprostol in your bloodstream. If you do not disclose it, there is no way for a medical provider to tell the difference between a medication abortion and a spontaneous miscarriage.
Do not talk to the cops. Period. Do. Not. Talk. To. The. Cops. If you are questioned by police you should state, “I am exercising my right to remain silent, and I wish to speak with an attorney.” Do not speak again or nod in response to a question. Contact the Repro Legal Helpline as soon as possible for expert legal advice: 1-844-868-2812. Do not agree to questioning or speak to any law enforcement official without a lawyer present.
A lot of people in the US are super worried about the Supreme Court axing Roe v. Wade, but what they might not know is that some states have laws in place that will protect the right to reproductive choice and abortion if that happens. One of these states is the state of Illinois. In 2019, a law was passed that protects abortion rights within the state even if the federal right to an abortion falls. This means that if Roe v. Wade is overturned, abortion will still be a protected right in Illinois. Even before Roe, Chicago was a haven for safe abortions- you just called and asked for Jane.
Now, safe abortion access is the law of the land in IL, and there are several groups who can help you. This post is long, but I think it’s worthwhile. Even if you don’t read all the way through it, maybe save it for later. You or someone you know might need it. If you want to stop now, the TL;DR is this:
f you’re a minor and you can’t tell your parents, get a waiver of notification from the IL Judicial Bypass program.
Schedule your appointment.
Contact abortion funds to get financial aid. Your home state might have s fund, and the Chicago Abortion Fund can help.
Secure housing for the procedure through the Midwest Access Coalition or by talking to the intake staff at the clinic of your choice.
I’d like to start by saying that the closer to home you get your abortion, should you need one, the easier it will be for you… probably. It depends on your individual situation AND your safety. If I still lived in Indiana and I needed an abortion, I’d probably leave to get it done, even though there are abortion providers in Indiana, because Indiana is super hostile and there’s lots of clinic protestors- for example, when I was taking my GRE my senior year at Notre Dame, the testing center was in this little strip mall in Mishawaka next to Planned Parenthood. Despite the fact that the PP in Mishawaka does not provide abortions, there were protestors who yelled at me for going in there. I wasn’t even going to PP. I’d like to say that I said something devastatingly cool but I just ran in flustered. Point being: It really, really would have sucked if I was there for healthcare instead of a standardized test for graduate school. And that’s a very tame, mild situation! Real abortion clinic protests are often much more devastating!
ANYWAYS. The less you have to travel, the easier things tend to be, if it’s safe to get an abortion where you are and if your state will have protected abortions if Roe is overturned. If you’re not sure what might happen in your state in that case, this map has a clear, succinct overview of the legal status of abortion in each state and all US territories. You will want to click through to that link, because this image isn’t interactive.
[ID: a map of the US with states and territories sorted by their legal protections for abortion into four categories: expanded access in the case of Roe v. Wade being overturned, protected, not protected, and hostile. IL is highlighted.]
So let’s say you live in any of those red states. (Yellow and blue are safe- abortion access is protected there.) Let’s say, worst case scenario, Roe gets overturned and you get pregnant and you want to terminate. You will be able to do that in IL, and it’s relatively easy to do that in Chicago for a relatively low cost and with the benefit of a robust support network of people who want to reaffirm your reproductive choices.
First, if you’re a minor and you don’t want to tell your parents because it’s not safe for you to do so, get a judicial waiver of parental notification. The IL ACLU has a judicial bypass hotline. This will come at no cost to you. Do this ASAP, because it takes time to get it set up! You can do this by calling the hotline at 877-442-9727, texting 312-560-6607, or emailing judicialbypass@aclu-il.org.
Next, you need to get an appointment set up. You could get a referral from someone local to you, but this can be tricky- 87% of counties in the US don’t have an abortion provider, and google can lead you to a crisis pregnancy center. They will not help you. If you have a local Planned Parenthood, call them. Even if they don’t provide abortions, they can refer you to someone who can. If you’re coming to Chicago, which this post… kind of assumes you are… you can call any of these groups to talk about your options and what clinics can help you. I recommend starting with FPA or PP; those are two actual clinics. MAC and CAF are funds- they can direct you but they can’t schedule an appointment for you.
You might want to shop around and see which clinic costs the least, and is the most practical for you to get to. FPA has a lot of patient resources, as does PP. Don’t be afraid to ask for financial assistance. The people staffing those organizations have extensive networks and deep compassion for their patients- if the clinic can’t help, they might know who can.
Once you’ve made an appointment, now’s the time to start gathering financial aid. Some insurance, including IL Medicaid, covers it. If yours does not, or if the copay is still too much, this is where abortion funds come into play. Many states have their own abortion funds for state residents, so you might have to look around to see who can help you. I’d start with the National Network of Abortion Funds.
You also need to figure out transportation and housing while you’re in the city to get your abortion. This isn’t super necessary if you’re just coming for the pill abortion, but if you’re coming for a d and c or other surgical procedure, you will be staying for a couple of days. THIS is why I’m writing this up, because abortion funds typically only are able to help cover the financial cost of the procedure. It’s expensive to stay somewhere and it can be absolutely terrifying if you’re on your own! Navigating while you’re in pain from the procedure can be an absolute devil of a time, too! However, Chicago has MAC (contact info above), which is a practicalaccess fund, which means that they help pay for transportation to the city (bus tickets and train tickets) and around the city (volunteer drivers or volunteers who take rideshares with clients), food, aftercare medicine (painkillers, etc.), and housing, and there’s also free access to emotional support staff throughout your stay. This is not just open to IL residents; it’s open to anyone coming to the city for an abortion. ALSO if you go through FPA, they have a partnership with the Hampton Inn a block away from their location where their patients get a discount. If you go that route, just talk to FPA about housing and they’ll hook you up. This can be super helpful if you need some evidence that you’re on a “business trip” or something like that- if you are in a position where you need an excuse for your safety, that might work well.
Hopefully you won’t need this post- but if you do, I hope it helps. Feel free to share it around. If you have anti-choice opinions and you feel the need to share, don’t. This isn’t the space for it; you will be blocked and your comments removed. And then remember that criminalizing abortion won’t stop abortion. It’ll just stop safe abortions. Also, increased access to abortion, funnily enough, tends to be the thing that lowers abortion rates, because increased access to abortion comes part and parcel with increased access to birth control and general health and sex education.
Reblogging this because it’s always relevant… and because an administrative decision by MAC’s incredible leadership means they don’t just do bus and train tickets anymore. They will also help pay for airline tickets if you need to fly. If you are in the US and need to come to Chicago for an abortion, MAC’s got your back.
Also, if you find yourself in a situation where you can’t travel, and you catch it early, you can do a medication abortion at home. This can either be clinician supported through telehealth or it can be a self-managed abortion (SMA). Either way, you can do this entirely online without ever having to go into a doctor’s office or clinic.
Now, this only works early in a pregnancy (up to 11-12 weeks), so if you’re in a situation where you suspect you may become pregnant and you don’t want to be, test early and often if you can. The various help lines can also help you figure out how far along you are.
More resources: https://www.reprolegalhelpline.org/- this link is a good resource for talking about your legal options. If you’re a pregnant person of color, immigrant, or low-income (and using Medicaid) in an abortion-hostile state, I HIGHLY recommend talking through your legal options because you are absolutely targeted by politicians and the US legal system.
You can print these on sticker paper at home if you have it. It’s a good way to get the word out.
As of… thirty minutes ago on Monday, 2 May 2022, Politico got hold of Justice Alito’s draft statement on Roe. It’s not good. We’re probably gonna lose Roe vs. Wade in two months, and that means if you live in a red state, you’re VERY probably going to lose the right to a safe abortion.
I know this is a long post, but if Roe is overturned, it’s not going to stop abortions. It’s just going to stop safe abortions. Abortion access is reproductive healthcare, and a lot of states are going to get really restrictive. Indiana, my home state, has already put a woman in jail for having a miscarriage. Oklahoma lawmakers would rather let women with ectopic pregnancies die than allow lifesaving medical procedures. This is bad, but! Underground abortion networks did exist before Roe vs. Wade, and now we have the internet. We have robust networks in place to help people that the government would rather see dead or imprisoned. Even if Roe is overturned, some states will be safe havens for abortion. Travel to these states can be difficult, but not impossible– that’s what abortion networks and abortion funds are for.
Please save as much of this information as may be relevant to you. And if you’re “pro-life” and feel the need to comment on this post? Don’t. Your opinions and input are neither valued nor wanted. Abortion access is a vital, necessary part of reproductive healthcare.
