Rep. Pramila Jayapal Talks About Her Abortion Publicly for the First Time in a New Op-Ed
Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who represents Washington's 7th congressional district, recently wrote an op-ed in the New York Times, speaking publicly about her abortion for the very first time.
In the piece, Jayapal explains that her child was born unexpectedly in India at 26.5 weeks and weighed only one pound 14 ounces. Her baby spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit, going through multiple blood transfusions and being unable to eat because their internal organs were not developed enough. She writes that the intense treatment and worries they faced in the first few months of her baby’s life did not end shortly thereafter: "In the ensuing years, we faced endless trips to the emergency room because of weak lungs and repeated pneumonia, a seizure and delays in speaking that made us worry about the future."
Jayapal writes that she feels lucky to have a baby that survived such a dangerous birth; her child Janak just graduated from college. But years after Janak was born, when she wanted more children, doctors told her that future pregnancies would be extremely high-risk.
"I knew that I simply would not be able to go through what I had gone through again," she says. "Janak was far from out of the woods, and I needed to preserve my strength for them. I hoped there would be a time in the future when I could be ready again for children, but for the time being, my husband and I diligently took precautions to make sure that I did not get pregnant. But pregnancy methods are not foolproof. I got pregnant and I had to decide what to do."
Even though she wanted children, Jayapal writes that she "could not tempt fate again" and decided she could not responsibly have the baby, calling it a "heartbreaking decision."
A post shared by Pramila Jayapal (@repjayapal) on Jun 13, 2019 at 12:10pm PDT
Writing this amid the number of restrictive abortion laws passed in different states this year, Jayapal says that she feels fortunate to live in a state where pregnant people's rights are protected, where people can make choices about their bodies without barriers like forced counseling and waiting periods. She decided to speak about her abortion now due to her deep concern about these very efforts to take away choice from pregnant people and the ways lawmakers are attempting to criminalize abortion.
"For me, terminating my pregnancy was not an easy choice, but it was my choice," she writes. "That is the single thing that has allowed me to live with the consequences of my decisions. And that is what must be preserved, for every pregnant person."
Read her entire op-ed here.
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