With all the new laws back east about abortions, you have to put politics aside and look at this issue from a medical perspective. I reached out to Planned Parenthood, Mar Monte and had a chance to interview Jessica Dieseldorff, the Associate Director of Advanced Practice Clinicians and Training.
Dieseldorff earned a bachelor’s in humanities at John Hopkins University and began working for Planned Parenthood in community education in Nashville, Tennessee. She went back to school and got a Master of Science in Nursing degree from Vanderbilt University to become a registered nurse and a women’s health nurse practitioner. She has been at Mar Monte’s Planned Parenthood for over two decades and providing the abortion pill and in-clinic abortions for nearly 15 years.
Photo courtesy: Upstream
Q: Has the climate among staff and doctors at Planned Parenthood changed since the “heartbeat bills” have been passed?
A: I can’t speak for all Planned Parenthood providers, but as an abortion provider in California, I feel increasingly grateful for the progressive and proactive laws we have in our state, laws that make it easier, not harder, for patients to get the care they need. I’m really fortunate to be able to provide abortion care as just simple, safe, and dignified health care. I feel sadness and alarm for patients who have politicians standing in the way of their personal, private, important health care decisions. I feel deep concern for my colleagues across the country who also want to help patients exercise their personal bodily autonomy. These providers are facing ridiculous and extreme laws that would send a provider to jail for 99 years for helping someone end their pregnancy.
Q: Have patients seemed more concerned or worried about getting abortions since these bills have passed?
A: Patients we see in California are allowed to access abortion care much more easily than in many parts of the country. They are able to focus on their own worries and concerns – such as the personal reasons they are not prepared to continue a pregnancy, and when they can get back to their many other responsibilities. When I see someone who is getting an early abortion at six weeks of pregnancy, I try to imagine what it would be like for them if they lived in Alabama or Louisiana. As an American, I think it’s just wrong that someone’s basic freedom and control over their own body should depend on where they live.
Photo courtesy: Planned Parenthood Mar Monte Facebook
Q: What is an ectopic pregnancy and why can’t you remove the fetus from the Fallopian tube and put relocate it into the womb?
A: An ectopic pregnancy is a pregnancy growing abnormally, in an abnormal location in the body – for example, in the tube, the ovary, or the abdomen – instead of inside the uterus. It’s really dangerous because as it grows, it can break open causing internal bleeding and death. An ectopic pregnancy can include an embryo or fetus but sometimes doesn’t. There is absolutely zero science that supports the idea that an abnormally growing pregnancy could be moved to the uterus. A legislator in Ohio introduced a bill to require insurance companies to cover this – if it were possible — but it’s a fictional thing.
Q: What is the mortality rate and are the risks of an ectopic pregnancy?
A: Ectopic pregnancies happen in 1 out of every 50 pregnancies. However, they are the cause of about one out of every ten pregnancy-related deaths. Back in the 1970s, it was more common for ectopic pregnancies to rupture and the person to die (35 out of 10,000 cases of ectopic pregnancies). Now that we have better ultrasound technology and blood testing for pregnancy hormones, and in places where there is good access to health care, we’ve gotten a lot better at detecting ectopic pregnancies early, so it’s much much less common for people to die from them (about 3 in 10,000 cases of ectopic pregnancies). When they are found early, they can be treated with medications or surgery. Laws like abortion bans, that restrict access to health care, will cause more people to delay getting safe abortions and safe treatment for ectopic pregnancies.
Photo courtesy: GOP USA
Q: How many abortions does Planned Parenthood (whether nationwide or locally) see a year?
A: Nationally, Planned Parenthood health centers performed 332,757 abortions during the Fiscal Year 2017-2018.
Source: PPFA annual report linked here.
Q: What are the numbers and statistics for women who get abortions because of rape and incest as well as for women who get abortions because they medically cannot continue on with their pregnancy?
A: Organizations like the Guttmacher Institute, Center for Reproductive Rights and the National Abortion Federation might have this information.
Background: Guttmacher Institute’s Abortion Demographics
Photo courtesy: Liberation News
Q: What can women in states that have passed the “heartbeat bill” do if they need to receive an abortion?
A: To be clear, while these abortion bans have passed their state legislatures and signed by their respective Governors, these bans have not yet gone into effect. Some of the bans have future dates at which they are scheduled to take effect while others have already been stopped by court interventions because they are blatantly unconstitutional. However, these states already have egregious abortion restrictions and barriers in place to make it next to impossible to access safe and legal abortion. Whether it’s states like Arkansas and Missouri where each state only has one abortion clinic, or Alabama, Georgia and Ohio where you need to undergo state-mandated counseling, wait 24-48 hours after counseling to schedule the abortion and have permission from a parent if the patient is a minor. Not to mention the inability of health insurance companies to offer plans that cover abortion. For many women, especially low-income and women of color, abortion is already inaccessible. Due to these conditions, women are already traveling to other states to get the care they need.
Additional background source: The shifting geography of abortion: Missouri women looking to Illinois, Kansas for care, Kansas City Star, June 2, 2019.
Q: What do you think women’s healthcare clinics will do to refute this bill?
A: First and foremost, it’s imperative that clinics educate patients on the status of the laws – abortion is still legal.
At Planned Parenthood, we’re going to fight back to make sure that abortion care remains safe and legal. We’ll be fighting in the courts and in the streets to make sure these abortion bans never go into effect. We will do whatever it takes to stop these dangerous regulations and laws so that our patients can continue to access the care they need. We are ready to fight with everything we have.
Photo courtesy: Christian News
Q: What are your personal and professional opinions on this bill?
A: These bans are dangerous, harmful, and illegal. Planned Parenthood will always be there for our patients. We will fight to ensure that patients — and everyone in this country — can still access health care, no matter what. Our patients’ lives are too important to let these bans go unchallenged.
Q: What would happen if the Supreme Court did overturn Roe V. Wade?
A: Hopefully, it will not come to this. If it does, access to safe and legal abortion would be left up to the states and we will see an extreme version of what is already happening in states where it is heavily restricted.
Photo courtesy: The New York Times
Q: Is there anything else that women should know about these policies?
A: People seeking abortion care should know that these abortion bans are not in effect — yet. You can still make an appointment at your local health center, and get the care you need. Planned Parenthood, the ACLU and other organizations will be fighting to make sure they never go into effect — and doing everything we can to protect patients’ health and lives.