Pregnancy loss is a difficult situation no matter what the circumstance. It is an instance that people tend to hold close to the vest and not talk a lot about. When a pregnancy loss occurs because of a “choice,” the shame that is internally and externally inflicted compounds the actual loss. Certainly, this is the stigma that American abortion provides and society connotes those that choose to end a pregnancy with women who are “loose, uncaring, or ignorant.” There is an aspect of the abortion debate that is grey: terminating a much-wanted pregnancy due to fetal anomaly or risk to the mother’s health. This segment of the abortion and loss community has few avenues of expression, as the stigma and shame of abortion is compounded with the fact that there was an aspect of choice. Such pregnant people are left to wonder, even those that were given little medical hope otherwise, about what might have been.   

As of this writing over half of states in the United States have abortion provisions. Many require additional hoops such as a waiting period, a second opinion, an ultrasound, etc. Other states have a hard cut-off time point with no exceptions. With the fate of Roe vs Wade being announced in June, the situation feels more dire. However, some states will allow abortions, even in the third trimester, if the pregnancy is shown to have a fetus with abnormalities or if it is a threat to the mother’s life. This last proviso is vague, and certainly alludes to physical health to the mother (i.e.: continuing to carry the pregnancy would cause imminent death to the mother). While few laws actually specify this, the rhetoric behind their proponents leaves little to the imagination. Such laws, perhaps, leave open the possibility of defining “health to the mother.” While physical health is a given, mental health might be a factor. Again, in the case of a fetus with a genetic anomaly, what is the cost to the mother/family emotionally, financially, and to the community to bring the child to term? This workshop will look at the complexities of this type of pregnancy loss.

This training will help you:

•  Determine the nuances of ending a wanted pregnancy that differ from other losses.
•  Utilize an evidence-based framework that brings clarity to the clinician's role in supporting a person that is TFMR 
•  Learn the barriers that pregnant people who choose to terminate might experience.

This course includes 1 hour of continuing education for $30