Did you knowâin the United States aloneâtransgender and gender expansive (TGE) individuals with uteri are more likely to consider and attempt to DIY/self manage an abortion without clinical supervision?
36% of those ever pregnant considered (more than 1 in 3), while 19% attempted to do so (nearly 1 in 5)âwith a quarter (25%) using physical trauma as a method, while none of them reported using misoprostol or mifepristone (recommended by WHO as abortion medications)
This is compared to lifetime prevalence of the general Self Managed Abortion (SMA) of 7% (tho, on the rise as of the overturning of Roe vs Wade), in the population that is not TGE, where nearly 50% used medication and 20% used physical methods. Some of these individuals came in contact with clinicians before, during, or after their SMAâsome of whom may be supported by clinicians.
In the TGE population surveyed, 88% of those who attempted abortion without clinical supervision used more than one method. Of those who attempted, 10% included that they were intersex.
Of the 13 individuals who chose to share the results of their (14) SMA, 9 ended in miscarriage or the return of a menses, 4 ended in a subsequent clinic-based abortion after their initial SMA attempt failed, and 1 ended in birth (whose parent is an intersex individual).
13% chose to describe the difficult situations that influenced their attempt; this included suicide attempts, intimate partner violence or other physical harm, fear of harm to themselves, or a fear for personal safety if anyone discovered the pregnancyâa fear that prevented seeking professional care. This reasoning is also vastly different from those who aren't TGEâwhere nearly 50% felt SMA "seemed easier or faster"
Some of their stories include: a Cherokee genderqueer two-spirit individual denied abortion access for a rape-related pregnancy; an agender individual (who used pregnancy tests at school and work due to being terrified their abuser would kill them if he found out) that spent a day and a half, sick and unconscious on their bathroom floor (longer in bed) while crying; and a nonbinary individualâwhose insurance did not cover abortionâwho considered drinking poison, as "dying was a better alternative to forced pregnancy." There was also: a trans man who stuck a needle into his front hole; a genderfluid individual who drank a lot of alcohol, took a mild overdose of their prescriptions, repeatedly hit their lower abdomen with a hammer, and then stopped eating for a few days.
Abortion attempts without clinical supervision among transgender, nonbinary and gender-expansive people in the United States (link)
Self-Managed Abortion in the United States (link)
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