Taylor Shelton said she isn’t ready to be a mother. She’d been using birth control for years — an intrauterine device (IUD), which is said to be more than 99% effective.
She’d just gotten the device checked by a doctor when she missed her period in September.
“When I found out I was pregnant, I was shocked to say the least,” Shelton told NPR.
Shelton and her boyfriend decided together that she would get an abortion. But South Carolina’s fetal heartbeat ban had just taken effect.
“I thought, ‘Luckily, I’m under six weeks. This shouldn’t be hard,’” said Shelton. “And then it turned out to be unbelievably hard.”
Shelton ultimately had to travel out of state to get an abortion.
“It was unnecessary, and it was traumatizing,” said Shelton. She’s now suing the state, alongside Planned Parenthood, arguing the ban’s parameters are vague and make it nearly impossible to get an abortion.
“The government want[s] us to be responsible. Well, I’m telling you right now — I had birth control. I tracked my period. I took the pregnancy test as soon as possible,” said Shelton. “And even then, I could not figure out how to get this procedure done.”
I read her statements more as “I took reasonable steps to protect myself, which ultimately didn’t work, and then my state made it impossible to get professional medical care.”
That’s entirely possible. It just struck me wrong the way she was talking about how she was being responsible and 6 weeks isn’t enough for people who do everything right. It kind of implies that she thinks there should be a line, but 6 weeks is too soon.
Like, why do the “reasonable” steps matter at all? What difference does it make that she was using contraception? An abortion is an abortion, and the people involved in the decision to have one or not are the mother and the doctor.
I’ll be honest, you seem to be jumping to a lot of conclusions about this woman. Nowhere does she say anything about doing everything right. Yes she has to defend herself. She’s a woman who got pregnant out of wedlock. Do you not understand the stigmas women have to endure because of things like men and religion? I’d be apprehensive too if I were in her position. You’re right though, it shouldn’t matter about reasonable steps. But they do matter. And that’s a travesty too.