SAMI ALLOY, Deputy Director
In 2018, I had an early miscarriage of a wanted pregnancy after trying for years to conceive.
Like the majority of US miscarriage and early abortion patients, I used the medication abortion protocol of mifepristone and misoprostol to manage my pregnancy loss.
My team of trusted doctors advised me that mifepristone and misoprostol were the safest tools available. I was gutted by the loss of my profoundly wanted pregnancy, but I was grateful for the option to manage it on my own.
Mifepristone allowed me the agency to rely on a safe and medically-uncomplicated solution during a very difficult time.
Wanted pregnancy loss is never easy. I relied on a network of trusted care providers, friends, colleagues, and family members to help me navigate the care I needed to recover.
That essential care would not have been accessible if my pregnancy outcome had been criminalized.
texas judge vs. the fda
Last month, a federal judge in Texas ruled to invalidate the FDA’s 23-year-old approval for the abortion pill mifepristone.
The same day, another federal judge in eastern Washington ruled to protect mifepristone access for 17 jurisdictions including Washington state. On April 14th, the Supreme Court voted to temporarily block the Texas ruling, preserving mifepristone access for now.
For me, this is deeply personal. I am one of the 2.75 million Americans who has relied on mifepristone since it was approved in 2000.
Anti-abortion movement
Dismantling legal access to mifepristone is the latest tactic of an anti-abortion movement that will stop at nothing to strip us of our reproductive freedom.
Their spurious claims are offensive and harmful, and the uncertainty about the future of medication abortion access is confusing and exhausting.
The real danger to patients isn’t mifepristone — it’s the stigmatization and criminalization of abortion and pregnancy loss.
Pregnancy and pregnancy termination are intimate decisions with outcomes as diverse as the individuals who experience them. They should never be determined by politics.
Our bodies are not up for debate.
That’s why, even when I am disgusted by the ongoing efforts to remove our most fundamental rights, I will never give up. Becoming a parent has made me more committed to abortion and gender access than ever.
I am motivated not only by my experience but also by the stories I have heard from all of you.
I work with Pro-Choice Washington because I know this beloved community is in it for the long haul. We will keep showing up to protect our fundamental rights to essential reproductive health care.
But we need your support to keep this work going.
