Here we are in 2022, after hundreds of laws chipping away at access to abortion, looking down the barrel of outright illegality in many states. The same thing happens every time a law passes, an anti-choice argument is made, or in this case, a document leaks indicating the overthrow of Roe v. Wade protections- I feel nauseated, electrically outraged, low grade despair, then I engage in a flurry of communications with colleagues, friends, and family about what to DO. Here, I offer one thing that all people who menstruate can do, and something all of us can learn about and talk about, whether we menstruate or not.
After a decade working in family planning, and sexual and reproductive health, I’ve watched the growth and proliferation of abortion rights groups, from grassroots to national organizations, from legal action to practical support. We truly need it all AND more, and louder. We need Plan C, we need the ACLU, we need smaller groups like Autonomous Pelvic Care teaching about self managed abortion, we need clinic escorts, we need protected access to contraception and family planning education, we need more high quality research from Society of Family Planning scientists, we need journalists writing about Menstrual Extraction and pill access, we need direct action from all voices.
I’ll say it again- we need it ALL and MORE and LOUDER.
And, we need to drastically increase education around Fertility Awareness.
Pregnancy and abortion are time sensitive events. Especially in states with abortion restrictions as early as 6 weeks, people who become pregnant and don’t want to be are in a race against the clock. By the time the first period is missed, a pregnancy test is taken, conversation with a partner is had (or not), a decision is made, and an appointment is set, it may be legally too late to terminate.
Practicing fertility awareness can be a powerful tool to buy time, even if its just a day or two, and to have early warnings that we may be pregnant. I write this in full recognition that practicing fertility awareness may not be accessible to people for a host of reasons, and that it is not the only way to maintain abortion access, but the combination of fertility awareness charting and access to mifepristone and misoprostol (or misoprostol only) is powerful, and we need both.
Consider this situation:
I don’t track my cycles. I get my period regularly, and I know that because it feels regular. I can’t remember when my last period was, but a couple of weeks ago, I suppose. I use condoms with my partner, most of the time. I’ve never been pregnant so I’m not so worried— its been working so far. But I definitely don’t want to be a parent.
Now let’s say that this person had sex without a condom in their fertile window and fertilization occurred, followed by implantation. First, they wouldn’t have known that they were in their fertile window in the first place. Had they known, they might have opted for sex with a condom, non-pregnancy potentiating sex, withdrawal, or abstinence. Consider how long it might take them to realize that their period hasn’t arrived. 2 days? ? 10 days? A month? They might have a sense that they are ‘regular’ but without an intentional focus, it can be hard to remember when your last bleed was. This is common!
Fertility Awareness is a beautifully analog, self driven method of body knowledge and autonomy. On the simple end, it can involve simply marking on a calendar the dates and length of your menstrual bleed. Over time, you can understand if and how ‘regular’ the cycles are, and you have accurate data about your last menstrual period. A more involved approach to fertility awareness can show you if and when you ovulated, and when your fertile window is. If you look at your chart and notice that, oops! you had unprotected, pregnancy-potentiating sex right before ovulation. You might google some common early pregnancy symptoms to be aware of, you might seek early support from a friend, you might schedule an appointment at a clinic or through telehealth (which you can always cancel if you need to). If you chart your basal body temperature, you might see a triphasic rise in temps even before you take a pregnancy test.
In other words, you are prepared, you are aware, you are listening to your body. As we see legal gestational age restrictions lowering, this early warning system is critical.
It’s time to pull out all the stops. Tell your friends, tell your family, tell your partners. Write the link to plancpills.org on money, call your representatives, donate money, talk about your abortion to your people, and dedicate time and effort to learning about your body and your fertility. It’s not a secret, it’s a tool.