Women Aren’t The Only People Who Get Abortions
Jack Qu’emi Gutiérrez was a 20-year-old college student in a self-described “shitty relationship” when they found out they were pregnant.
It was 2011 and Gutiérrez, a nonbinary person who uses the pronouns they/them, had to pool all their money at the time to pay the $500 to get the abortion pill. Even though Gutiérrez chose to have a medication abortion (“I didn’t want a bunch of people in my crotch”), they were still forced to undergo two trans-vaginal ultrasounds before obtaining the abortion pill.
“I felt very, very much alone,” Gutiérrez told HuffPost. “I didn’t have any frame of reference for what an abortion would be like, period. Not to mention what an abortion would be like as a nonbinary person.”
Although Gutiérrez went to Planned Parenthood, they were constantly misgendered and there was no option for preferred pronouns or name on the intake form.
“I got called ‘Miss’ and ‘Ma’am’ all the time,” they said. “And [the staff] was super sweet to me, but I was too terrified to really sit down and have a conversation and say, ‘Hey, my pronouns are this and my identity is this, could you stop doing that?’ I was too busy going, ‘Holy shit, I’m in a clinic and I don’t know what to expect.’”
That experience left Gutiérrez feeling violated, shameful and, later, angry. “I feel like I always have to justify my existence and explain why I need to be treated like a human being,” they said.
In the wake of extreme abortion restrictions in states like Georgia, Alabama, Missouri and Ohio, Gutiérrez said they found that anger bubbling up again.
“To completely ignore a giant group of people that need access ― and who are already having a hard time going into health care spaces ― it is just mind-blowing to me, and it’s incredibly frustrating,” Gutiérrez said.
Make no mistake: The abortion bans are absolutely an attack on cis women. It’s part of a larger war on women that’s been raging for decades, and it’s deeply rooted in misogyny and sexism. But these bans also affect transgender, intersex and other gender-nonconforming people.
Cazembe Murphy Jackson, a transgender man, said his abortion experience was similar to Gutiérrez’s. Jackson was raped his junior year in college and, six weeks later, had to take out a loan to get an abortion at a Planned Parenthood in Texas.
“It was awkward because people were not competent around trans masculine folks getting abortions. One of the first questions I got was, ‘Is this [abortion] for your partner?’” he said.
At the time, Jackson did not identify as a man but told HuffPost he was openly queer and presented as trans masculine or butch.
Similar to Gutiérrez, Jackson agreed that Planned Parenthood was by far the safest place for him to get an abortion. And yet, nurses and doctors still had little practice in giving care to trans presenting people.
“Our health care professionals have to be more educated on who gets abortions and who needs them,” he said. “People expect a certain type of body to come in to get abortions and that’s just not the case. It’s never been the case.”
And therein lies the problem. Even the most progressive health organizations, like Planned Parenthood, are still not up to speed on some of the most rudimental ways to give competent and compassionate care to trans and nonbinary folks.
“Even the pro-choice people are constantly, constantly choosing to ignore my existence,” Gutiérrez said.
Read the rest of the story here.
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