Letter to the Editor, Abortion safest choice for some women, by FLVCS member JL Smith, was published in the Herald Tribune on  Sunday, October 30, 2022.

Republicans are turning women into criminals for choosing life, health, privacy and future over the unborn. Pregnancy can be dangerous, for some more than others. Politicians are talking about morality. Women face reality. My mother had difficult pregnancies. She was prescribed Diethylstilbestrol (DES), a drug given to women from 1940-1971 to prevent miscarriages and premature labor. Later, the drug was discovered to cause birth defects in female offspring.

At 13, I was told I had DES-caused uterine deformities. Chances were I could not get pregnant, and if I did, there was little chance of a healthy pregnancy. DES daughters have a cumulative risk of 40% for cancer. They also have a higher risk of pregnancy-related complications: 33% risk of infertility, 15% ectopic pregnancy, 16% miscarriage in second trimester, 26% preeclampsia, 53% premature delivery, 9% stillbirth and 8% neonatal death.

I have always known I would choose abortion over pregnancy. Luckily, I never got pregnant. Childbirth is not without risk. Women without babies are not lesser citizens.  

I have contributed as an Air Force officer, university professor, business owner, wife and caregiver to my parents. Yet, that is not enough for Gov. Ron DeSantis and his draconian laws.

Vote against Republicans. They have proven to know little about childbirth and the burden and lifelong pain it can cause.

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