T.Flora Ellis’ mother recently stashes morning-after pills in the closet of her home in Oklahoma. I admit it. That’s because Ellis was born with a connective tissue disorder, which prevents her body from making collagen properly. It means that pregnancy is accompanied by the possibility of organ rupture.
Now that abortion is outlawed in Oklahoma, neither Ellis nor her mother want to take the risk. Her health problems with her Ellis prevent her from using any form of contraception. So Morning Her After Her Piles of Pills acts as additional insurance. “I feel very uneasy because there will be less access [to abortion] Now,” says Ellis.
Ellis’ mother, Cynthia Rogers, searches her home medicine cabinet to find the next morning medicine she keeps for Ellis and a friend in case of an emergency.
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Ellis and her boyfriend Guthrie. The two lived together for a short time, but she recently moved back home while Ellis attended college.
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Elise and her family in front of the house. She often uses a wheelchair because of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. “If your body has braces for anything, I probably have it,” Ellis says.
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the fall of Law vs Wade, and the subsequent wave of abortion bans and restrictions in US states, severely impact an estimated 26% of US adults with disabilities. Pregnancy is dangerous for everyone, says Louise Perkins-King, M.D., assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School, but people who enter pregnancy with underlying health problems Perkins-King says that ensuring that all people, including those with disabilities, have access to essential health care includes ensuring “the option to dismiss if it is in good health.” is also included.
Moreover, as the American Association of Persons with Disabilities (AAPD) wrote in a statement after a draft ruling overturning the Supreme Court’s ruling, the ban on abortion is against the autonomy of the body, “a core principle of the disability rights movement.” represents a threat. egg leaked last May. “Policies that restrict access to abortion would dramatically exacerbate the threat to the autonomy, health and overall well-being of persons with disabilities.”
Since then, 12 U.S. states, including many of the southern states with the highest rates of disabled persons, have almost completely banned abortion. For people with disabilities, these laws will only exacerbate longstanding obstacles to abortion care, says Joy Moonan, a Texas-based disability advocate and cerebral palsy attorney.
Joy Moonan next to her Dallas apartment on July 20, 2022. Moonan, a lawyer and disability rights advocate, uses a wheelchair because of her cerebral palsy.
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Even securing reliable transportation to abortion providers can be difficult for those with limited mobility, according to Moonan, and many health care providers are well versed in caring for people with disabilities. No. In 2022, Senators Tammy Duckworth and Patti Murray will address this problem by funding training programs for providers and recruiting people with disabilities into the healthcare field. We have introduced legislation aimed at mitigating it, but no progress has been made since it was introduced.
“People with disabilities have sex too. They want to start families, they want to date,” says Moonan. But “people don’t see disabled people that way.”
Moonan and her twin sister Laura leave for dinner in an easily accessible van.
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Joy and Laura Moonan in their shared apartment.
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In fact, the United States has a terrible track record when it comes to providing ethical care for people with disabilities. Forced sterilization was common for much of her 20th century, and many states still have laws allowing it.
Wanda Felty found out after her daughter Kayla was born. Her Kayla’s brain did not fully form in the womb, which caused her significant cognitive and visual impairment. When Kayla, now 34, was young, people of goodwill asked Ferti to consider removing her daughter’s uterus as a precaution against her pregnancy because sexual violence against disabled people is common. I said Nearly 40 percent of female rape victims were disabled when they were assaulted, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Felty became upset that someone suggested having a part of her daughter’s body removed without being medically necessary. egg fell last year. Felty lives in Oklahoma and works for an organization that helps people with disabilities and their families. After Oklahoma outlawed abortion, she began answering calls from her enthusiastic parents wanting to know about sterilization of children with disabilities.
Wanda Felty sits with daughter Kayla at her home in Norman, Oklahoma, July 19, 2022. Her Kayla’s brain didn’t fully form in the womb. She is almost speechless and she has a significant visual impairment, among other medical problems. Felty and her husband are Kayla’s primary caretakers.
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Felty was raised to believe that abortion was wrong, but a lived experience changed her perspective.She is furious that her family is making heartbreaking choices to protect their children as legislators take up abortion options in some states. [instead of] We protect them from violent crime,” she says.
Most abortion bans include narrow exceptions for victims of rape and incest, as well as for medical emergencies that endanger the life of a parent, but restrictive state providers, out of fear, , may be reluctant to provide abortion care even if they meet one of those exceptions. Of legal, financial, or professional consequences. The medical emergency loophole can be particularly vague, as it is not always clear what constitutes a “life-threatening” complication.
It scares Ellis.Given her connective tissue disorder, she said, “Pregnancy is at risk. [abortion] count [as life-saving] after that? ” Or does it have to be after the uterus ruptures?” says Ellis.
Keeley Knight at her Kansas City apartment on July 19, 2022. Knight was born with an underdeveloped heart and must put in “twice as much effort as her average heart.”
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Keeley Knight, 24, has similar concerns. I knew She has long used her IUD to prevent pregnancy, and she and her husband recently moved from Oklahoma to Kansas City, Missouri.
Knight says that many people she knows are strongly opposed to abortion, viewing it as going against “the will of God”.
Knight and her husband, Cale, decided to move to Kansas City to be closer to their family and to have better access to reproductive resources if needed.
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Knight looks through his scrapbook. She had her three open heart surgeries when she was a baby and she still has to closely monitor the strain on her heart.
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“Me and God fought for my life to get here. You have no idea how hard we fought,” Knight says. “I’m not going to give up just because I’m pregnant.”
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