The Longest Shortest Time

EPISODE #194: One Mom’s Late-Term Abortion

Content Warning: This episode discusses the circumstances that led ending a wanted pregnancy. As much as this is a story about abortion, this is also a story about losing a terminally ill child. If that’s a sensitive subject for you, keep that in mind before you listen.

At a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, President Donald Trump recently spoke about a procedure he refers to as “extreme late-term abortion” – a graphic made-up procedure.

But what really happens? Late-term abortions make up less that 1% of all abortions, and are usually sought due to medical complications. There are laws in 43 states limiting when and how they happen. But, the more we read about the procedure in the headlines, the more we started wondering about the voice we never hear — the mother’s.

Tune in to hear Margot Finn tells us about getting hers at 29 weeks, and how it turned her into a parent.

Margot wrote her own account of what it’s like to have her devastation turned into a political talking point. You can read “I Had a Late-Term Abortion. President Trump and Pro-Lifers Have No Right to Call Me a Murderer” in Slate Magazine.

Resources for Child Loss

In the story, Margot spoke to us about an online support group that has helped with her grief. They’re called Ending a Wanted Pregnancy, and Margot’s now an admin.

All-Options Pregnancy Support, a pro-choice talkline and pregnancy resources center (1-888-493-0092, M-F 10-1am and SaSu 10-6am EST)

Glow in the Woods, an online refuge for parents who have experienced infertility, pregnancy & baby loss of all kinds

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, professional stillbirth photography

Molly Bears, makers of custom weighted teddy bears for babylost parents

Pregnancy After Loss Support, the name says it all!

Still Standing magazine and social media presence

Loss Advisors/Loss Doulas to offer compassionate, informed support to families facing the loss of a baby in miscarriage, stillbirth, or other infant death

SHARE is a national support organization for pregnancy loss.

Empty Arms is a bereavement support center in Western Mass, where you can find in-person support if you are local, and a whole lot more online resources if you are not. Here is a Lactation After Loss brochure that they put out. (If you have found a local bereavement support center that has helped you, feel free to leave a link in the comments.)

Dads grieve too, and Grieving Dads is a blog specifically for them.

Abortion Resources

There are organizations out there that help remove financial and logistical barriers to abortions for women. If you’re moved by Margot’s story, consider a donation to the National Network of Abortion Funds or The National Abortion Federation Hotline. There are even more resources we love from our friends at the show Unladylike over here.

Exhale (Pro-Voice) abortion support hotline