When a patient becomes pregnant, their risks for catastrophic or life-changing events increase dramatically just from taking that pregnancy test and having a positive test.
In that moment, your risk of a blood clot increases compared to somebody who is not pregnant. They are at risk for diabetes in pregnancy, and if they get diabetes in pregnancy, there is a greater risk to have diabetes after the pregnancy and later in life.
At the time of delivery, you’re at risk for hemorrhaging, losing significant blood volumes, requiring blood transfusions, or even emergency surgery like a hysterectomy. There’s even a more rare but significant event called an amniotic fluid embolism, which can result in catastrophic death almost immediately if not taken care of and identified in the moments after it occurs.
Now, we’re asking women who didn’t want this pregnancy, whether it was forced upon them or not, to put their entire life and their well-being not only in that moment but for the rest of the pregnancy, the postpartum period, and potentially even the rest of their life at risk, maybe even death.
And we’re telling them that’s fine. It’s not fine.
