Abortion bills have unintended consequences

As an OB-GYN, I am dismayed by SB146 and HB5 — the bills that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy (“15-week abortion ban passes first test,” Jan. 20).

In my experience, women don’t often have frivolous reasons to wait until 15 weeks to decide management of a pregnancy. I recall a 15-year-old patient who had been raped at a bus station when traveling to her older brother’s home after the tragic death of her parents. Due to fear and denial, she didn’t tell her brother that she was pregnant. When she finally came in at 15 weeks, we discovered the rapist had also given her syphilis. Congenital syphilis can result in intellectual disabilities, blindness and joint problems. Forcing her to continue this pregnancy would have devastating emotional and financial consequences to the patient, her family, and society.

The bills exclude lethal complications, but many disastrous complications are not lethal. Most anatomy defects cannot be detected until 15 weeks.

The bills’ sponsors, Sen. Kelli Stargel and Rep. Erin Grall, have no idea what it’s like to provide medical care for unexpected second-trimester catastrophes. The government should not strip women of the freedom to make these tough decisions.

Katherine Sutherland Winter Haven