Today, quickly, I wanted to share my story for Polish black protest.
Long, long time ago, when I was pregnant with Maya, it turned out that there was a probability that something was wrong. My age, my hormones – together have given rise to an increased risk of Down syndrome.
I went to the clinic for regular examinations. This time they were more advanced screening tests. Suddenly, after a nice conversation, it got quiet. I was asked to dress and move to another room. I was alone then because Dean stayed with Rose.
An elderly man with long gray hair was waiting for me in the room, reminded me of a retired hippie. She began to talk calmly about various options, including the termination of my pregnancy. I do not have to add how shocked I was, but somehow I calmly reached another research point about 100 meters away.
There, blood was taken from me. I had to wait for the next results for about a week. It was a tough week, also because of my discomfort during the first trimester. Searching in Google, waiting for a phone call, is everything ok?
After a week I received a call from San Francisco that everything is ok. I don’t know exactly what I would have done if it had been different. In this confusion, stress, however, I did not have to worry at all that someone, e.g. from doctors, my relatives, could assess me. I wish this future for my daughters.
Here, abortions are not at all stigmatized. What’s more, teenage girls do not have to inform their parents about the procedure.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to compare the rights of women in California to the rights of women in Poland. In California, termination of pregnancy is legal, and the costs are covered by insurance companies, as Trump recently argued, Access to contraception is also something completely natural.
Meanwhile, we are still sitting at home and waiting hopefully for specific proposals to leave shelter in place. On May 1 and 14, we will celebrate Maya and Róża’s birthday.
For more information:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/14/concerns-over-polish-government-tightening-abortion-laws-during-covid-19-crisis
