Why Informed Consent is Necessary

I had the duty of speaking with many of you yesterday during the public hearing on Informed Consent (HB 1371). I understand that there are many questions about this issue, and I hope I answer as many as possible in this short letter.

My abortion was one year, one month and thirteen days ago. I have decided to come forward with my story, although painful, for the benefit of all women.

When I went to the clinic for an abortion, I was given ten minutes to fill out two medical forms. I inadvertently filled out these forms incorrectly, categorizing myself to be much earlier in my gestation than I actually was. At no time were the contents of these forms discussed with me. However, I was shown a video which depicted a group of women sitting around discussing their own experience with a chemical abortion and "how easy it was to do this at home."

The only counseling that I was given during this process was when a woman identified by a sign on her desk as a certified midwife asked me why I was having an abortion. I answered her. That was the total substance of our "counseling." This same woman also gave me my injection. I was never informed of alternatives to the procedure I was seeking, a lack of information which proved to hinder my freedom of choice. No one ever told me about the Crisis Pregnancy Center located here in Richmond, an agency which offers help to women in my situation. Further, I was never told I could have any other type of abortion other than the chemical abortion known as Methotrexate/Misoprostol. At no time did I realize that these drugs, although approved by the Food and Drug Administration for other uses, were still in the experimental stage. I was never informed that my difficult experience would become a "medical" study statistic.

The American Medical Journal Association says, "Methotrexate is given to women no more than seven weeks pregnant by injection." Unbeknownst to me, I was three weeks past this deadline, a fact that would have easily been discovered had I had the benefit of a doctor's examination.

No one told me what to expect when I gave birth to my baby — at home and alone — and that in one month I would find myself hemorrhaging because the procedure had left part of the baby in my uterus. There was no one to help me when I drove myself to the hospital. Ironically, the emergency treatment I received in the hospital in response to the hemorrhaging was my first exposure to a physician throughout the entire abortion process.

HB 1371 is an effort to avert similar tragedies from occurring to other women. Information is vital to prevent the trauma I have suffered from becoming rampant throughout the Commonwealth. I implore you to vote in favor of HB 1371.

February 13, 1998

Published in VSHL Lifesaver, April 1998