Prohibitive abortion laws drive many women to perform unsafe abortions on themselves and also put women in positions where they have to go through a rigorous process to find an abortion clinic. In places where abortion is completely illegal, the only option for women who need an abortion is to perform an illegal abortion on themselves. Illegal abortions are very dangerous and are almost always life threatening.
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Unsafe abortions involve the insertion a thin rod into the cervix of a pregnant woman, with the aim of inducing a miscarriage. Worldwide, 48% of all induced abortions are unsafe. Most of these unsafe abortions happen in countries and states where abortion laws are extremely inflexible because women who need abortions have no other option but to put their own life in danger to perform a procedure that should be easily accessible.
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Katherine got pregnant at 19 years old after dating an older man in her home country of Honduras. At the time, she was a college student living with a host family in Florida. She had nowhere to turn, so she told the man that got her pregnant, but he wasn’t supportive. Then, she transferred to a new college in Texas, where she began looking for a place to get an abortion. She found a place, but it turned out to be a faith-based clinic that didn't offer abortions. It’s illegal to get an abortion after 20 weeks in Texas, which Katherine was already past, so she frantically searched for a clinic and found one in New Mexico. She managed to collect the money for the procedure in just three days, leaving her broke, and then she proceeded to drive hours on end from Texas to New Mexico for the procedure. Now, she doesn’t regret getting an abortion.
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