‘THE WAIT WAS ALREADY THERE’
Despite attorney general’s statement, it’s just another legal baby step to reverse Roe v. Wade in a conservative state
The most uncomfortable aspect of her abortion was not inside the exam room or procedure room. It was in the waiting room where she felt awkward and curious.
“It was just a bunch of women, some with a support person, and we were all there for the exact same thing,” the 30-year-old Portage woman recalled from her abortion earlier this year, before the pandemic hit.
She was five weeks into her pregnancy when she underwent the initial consultation at the Planned Parenthood health center in Merrillville.
“The choice to hear the heartbeat during the ultrasound, and to view the screen, was optional, so I appreciated that,” said the woman, who asked not to be identified. “The women who work there were all neutral. None asked personal questions. None did or said anything to make me feel negatively.”
She had enough on her mind that day. She was told return in two weeks for her abortion, performed only on Wednesdays at that center. She had 14 days to contemplate her decision to abort her pregnancy.
“I wasn’t emotionally involved in my decision,” she said. “But curiosity is there obviously. You only get to see something like that once, or a few times.”
I asked her if an additional 18 hours of waiting and wondering, after an ultrasound test, would have played a role in her decision-making process.
“It was the right thing for our family so my decision never swayed,” she replied.
Last week, after three years of legal wrangling, Planned Parenthood dropped its federal lawsuit challenging an Indiana law that will require women to undergo an ultrasound at least 18 hours before having an abortion. The organization described it as a “medically unnecessary law.” And I agree.
“To be clear, the 18-hour ultrasound requirement has nothing to do with patient safety and is only meant to add another barrier in accessing abortion care,” Chris Charbonneau, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, said in a statement.
The law was initially passed in 2016 and signed by then-Gov. Mike Pence. Soon after the law was passed, Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky successfully sought a court injunction preventing it from being implemented.
It’s been in legal limbo since then as the abortion debate rages on.
Anti-abortion activists hailed the dropped lawsuit as a victory in the neverending abortion battle. Abortion supporters conceded nothing, insisting that the state law is unconstitutional. And, beginning Jan. 1, it will now force some women to get an ultrasound that may not be readily accessible or convenient. The law, backed by Indiana’s Republican-led legislature, could possibly prevent some women from getting an abortion, critics claim.
These words alone are a triumph for abortion opponents, who used words such
as “conceded” and “defeat” to describe Planned Parenthood’s dropped lawsuit. Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill described the Aug. 20 legal agreement as a victory.
“For women considering abortions, ultrasounds are an important part of informed-consent counseling,” Hill said in a statement. “Anyone interested in protecting women’s health, including their mental health, should support giving them as much information as possible to aid their decisionmaking. Empowering women with knowledge is fully consistent with the U.S. Constitution.”
Another woman I spoke with about this law feels differently about the emotional weight of an 18-hour wait. She underwent an abortion in 1999 at the same Planned Parenthood in Merrillville.
“If I had to have had an ultrasound and wait an extra 18 hours, I would not have gone through with it,” admitted the 42-year-old Chesterton woman.
“I held my breath all the way to the clinic and cried from the moment I checked in until I checked out. The entire procedure was physically painful, and anyone with a conscience experiences more than just the physical pain.”
“However, it would have been the right decision for me and my children,” she said.
She already had two children while going through a nasty divorce.
“I just could not have another baby by that man,” she said.
To this day, that distant day is always in her thoughts.
“It is still something I think of often,” she said.
She doesn’t reveal it, though.
“I have told only one person that I made this decision, and I would still never share it with my family,” she said. “I know that people judge. It’s not the popular choice.”
Even with this lingering emotional conflict from 20 years ago, she’s not in favor of the law.
“I feel like the ultrasound, and the waiting, is not fair to women who feel stuck and need the help,” she said.
Despite Hill’s statement that this law is about “empowering” women with “knowledge,” it’s just another legal baby step to reverse Roe v. Wade in a conservative state that already ranks high on abortion restrictions. Wrinkled rhetoric such as Hill’s should be sucked out of this issue, but this thinly veiled aspect of the abortion debate will never be terminated. It all comes down to context on a personal level, not a political one.
Meanwhile, the waiting game continues in our society for a constructive discussion without partisan bluster and biblical self-righteousness.
“I don’t think this new law really affects women as public outcry suggests,” the Portage woman told me. “The wait was already there.”