How sad it must be, to believe that scientists, scholars, historians, economists and journalists have devoted their entire lives to deceiving you – while a reality TV star with decades of fraud and exhaustively documented lies – is your only beacon of truth and honesty.
-Unknown

Here is a glimpse into how the Ashley you know, was doing five years ago today.

She was jobless.

Hopeless.

And stuck in a cyclical relationship that was either busting at the seams or blowing up in her face, at any given point in time.

This was Ashley, during and after she learned she was nine weeks pregnant.

And this was Ashley, full of grief as she faced the most gut-wrenching decision that would end up changing the course of her life, for the better.

It was a decision as much a lesson that I now credit for shaping me into the smarter, tougher, more compassionate woman I am today.

For many, it will come as no surprise that in addition to the election results, the ongoing discourse around reproductive freedom and the morality of abortion has left me feeling heavy.

Why it hits home.

For others, this may be new.

Either way, it is no longer something I can easily brush off as a pro-life versus pro-choice debate.

It is no longer something I can boil down to an issue of biblical policy or politicized medicine.

It is no longer something I consider a matter of church versus state.

What was once something I grew to accept as a belief that separated us into two camps of thought, now feels compelling enough to dissolve some of the relationships and friendships I hold dear.

I can no longer stay silent because the bad situation currently surrounding prenatal care is about to get a whole hell of a lot worse when Trump takes office. And as far as I’m concerned, it never should’ve been left up to the states in the first place.

On June 22nd, 2022, it became an abuse of judicial authority.

On November 6th, 2024, it became a very real threat that could worsen health outcomes and what it looks like to be an American woman in the decades ahead.

Alas, we’ll dive deeper into some additional context that absolutely nobody asked for.

After my initial in-clinic procedure, I found myself at urgent care a few weeks later. Based on the pelvic pains and recent past I described to the male physician on staff, he concluded that it was probably a UTI—easily treatable with a regular course of antibiotics.

Unsurprisingly, the antibiotics did not help and I returned to urgent care shortly thereafter with a firm request to be seen by a female doctor.

This time, I was promptly referred to the OB clinic onsite where, after several tests and an intrauterine ultrasound, they determined there had been a complication with my initial procedure.

I left that appointment with a prescription for mifepristone and misoprostol to remove what they carefully explained were retained products of conception (RPOC). It is not uncommon for RPOC to cause infections, including sepsis, and complications to future pregnancies if left untreated.

Unfortunately, the medical abortion treatment I was given that day also failed, and I had to undergo a second surgery in the weeks that followed.

At this point, although it was no longer a viable pregnancy, I would’ve been well into my second trimester if it had. I have yet to find out whether this experience will have any adverse affects on my ability to conceive in the future.

Today, there are bans and restrictions around many abortion methods, including D&Es, in 33 states across the country. Although many of the abortion bans that are currently in place contain exceptions and are not yet criminalized, at least four women have died and countless more continue to suffer because Roe v. Wade was overturned.

States with more restrictive policies have higher total maternal mortality rates. And with the re-election of Donald Trump, we are facing what could become an even more catastrophic threat to maternal care, our safety, and our constitutional rights as a whole.

Some of the most heinous legislative proposals, such as a national abortion ban and forced pregnancy, are no longer off the table. With a GOP majority in the U.S. Senate, possibly the House, and a very unpredictable commander-in-chief who may be willing to sign something like this into law, it could prevail over any state laws we put in place as a protective measure.

This will unquestionably create sweeping consequences for women, our families, our health outcomes, and our livelihoods for generations to come.

I’m sure some will be inclined to dismiss this line of hypothetical reasoning as flawed, improbable or a victim mentality at best.

But for most of us, it runs much deeper and extends far beyond an issue of women’s rights.

The Dobbs v. Jackson decision and all these other very real possibilities represent what could become a grim reality for us in a matter of months.

As far as I know, I will not see a Supreme Court that isn’t filled with nonsensical alt-right extremists for 25 years. And I will continue to see established civil rights, science, education, clean air and water, public health, rational constitutional analysis and steadfast principles of democracy rolled back because of it.

To those of you who cared enough to read, but not enough to vote in favor of our collective welfare and civil liberties, I’ll extend the same congratulations to you that an unlucky nurse extended to me five years ago.

I hope you enjoy celebrating the Trump victory.

As much as I’ve tried to understand where you are coming from, I never will.

It is a shame that we now have to watch the women you claim to love, become collateral damage to your misplaced rage.

He told us he wants to be a dictator, “like Hitler,” on day one.

With our democracy and the lives of millions of Americans at stake, I hope he fails.