PAA Draft

Jess Neary

Am I being considered in the abortion debate?

As I get older, there are choices and decisions that I will need to make to live a long and happy life, some that pertain to every college kid, and others that are much harder to conceptualize. When I was ten months old, I was diagnosed with Kawasaki’s disease, a (then) very rare disease that usually affects children from one to five years old. The disease caused four aneurisms to form on the coronary arteries of my heart. Today, two can potentially affect me if I do not take daily medication of Coumadin and aspirin. Coumadin is a blood thinner, so my blood does not clot and cause me to have a heart attack.

Doctor Minich was the pediatric cardiologist who correctly diagnosed me in Salt Lake City, Utah, after I had already been on life support and taken off without a real treatment. She saved my life.

After visits every three months for the first two years of my life, Doctor Minich told my parents that I should be able to live a normal and happy life, free of limitations concerning physical activity and virtually any other aspect. When I went in for my annual checkup when I was sixteen, she told me I would need to take steps if I ever decided to get pregnant down the road, and that drugs and alcohol could be dangerous. At sixteen, none of this bothered me and when I was eighteen I said goodbye for the last time, needing an adult cardiologist.

I had no idea the medication I took could cause serious damage to the fetus of my child if I was ever to get pregnant. I take birth control, but what happens if there was a slip up someday and I did indeed get pregnant and didn’t know it? After doing research, according to heart-disease.emedtv.com, the FDA says that I could potentially have a miscarriage or stillbirth, while the fetus could have severe problems such as birth defects, blindness, mental retardation, brain or spinal problems, prematurity, and excessive bleeding (in both fetus and the mother. The site goes on to say, “The risks appear to be greatest when Coumadin is taken early in the pregnancy (weeks six through nine), although exposure at any time during pregnancy could lead to devastating outcomes.”

As I read the document listing all of the things Coumadin could do to a child, I was stunned. The thought of causing such pain and unfair treatment to an unborn child was unthinkable, and I didn’t want any part of it. On top of that, as I said before, Coumadin is an anticoagulant, or blood thinner, and during any type of medical procedure, doctors take extreme precautions to make sure I don’t bleed too much. When I was fourteen, I had a surgery to get my adenoids out in my nose. I was in the hospital for two days after to make sure I didn’t have any unforeseen bleeding. Two weeks prior to this “walk-out” procedure, I had to start giving myself twice-daily shots as a replacement to the Coumadin. I cried every time I stuck the needle in my side, not because I hated needles, but because the aching pain the meds left after I was done.

This all comes before the actual birth, in which my life would also be at risk with the potential of bleeding to death, or the amount of exertion on my heart that could potentially lead to a heart attack. Although Doctor Minich said I shouldn’t have any physical restrictions, I still can’t run without feeling lightheaded and out of breath much more quickly than others. Physical exercise can sometimes be brutal simply because I can’t continue more than a certain amount of time without catching my breath.

So even if I was going to get pregnant at some point in my life, would I be giving myself shots twice every day for nine months? The other possibility would be to have heart surgery, take out the two remaining aneurisms, and be done with the Coumadin all together. It was never discussed simply because I was stable, there was no need to take me off the medication when I was doing so well. Would I need to go to the extreme of heart surgery?

I want to research more on the other possible medications I could take that may not affect a fetus like Coumadin does, as well as get in touch with a cardiologist in town.

This (finally) gets me to the point of being considered in the abortion debate. According to Roe v. Wade, I am not although many conservatives still disagree. The Roe v. Wade case was brought on my a pregnant single woman (Roe) who challenged Texas’ criminal abortion laws. She won, and allowed legal abortion for women. Before this case, there were exceptions for women whose life would be in danger, and I still fall into that category (Cornell). Sadly, there are people in the world who can’t see passed their simplistic view of the world in that a fetus is a living human being and should have the rights as such no matter what. I do see their point, but where is the humanity in bring a child into a world where they are practically ostracized because of a birth defect, or mentally handicapped because their mother didn’t know they were pregnant. My dad had four brothers, each with their own unique characteristics but one, my Uncle John, had a spinal defect and gave him a humped back. Everywhere the family went, people stared at Uncle John because he was different and he was treated his whole life as someone to avoid, even though he was an intelligent and kind man. My dad would never wish that life upon anyone, and I agree with him.

Now that I have a better understanding of what the medication could do me and a potential fetus, a thousand questions pop up. I did support the right to choose side of the abortion debate before, but now with me directly affected, I want to take steps to make sure I would never have to face that choice myself. Whether it is finding a new medication, having surgery, or even having a procedure to get my tubes tied, I do not want to reach that point where I have to make the decision to have an abortion because it is my fault.