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#i also used the slideshows from my society and sex class last quarter so i can't cite all my sources :(
mushroomcaphat · 2 years
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I don't want to scare people, but if you are able to get pregnant and you live in a red or purple state in the US, you need to start making an emergency contingency plan for a complete ban on abortion in your state now. It is increasingly likely that Roe v. Wade will be nullified this summer when the Supreme Court decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health is announced, allowing states to set their own laws on abortion. If/when this happens, 23 states have the legislature in place to ban abortion and 29 total are hostile/lean hostile towards abortion and are likely to ban or heavily restrict it, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Only 16 are confidently pro-choice.
If you live in a state that is likely to repeal, are able to conceive, and especially if you are sexually active, you need to have a plan for avoiding pregnancy and a plan for if that plan fails, and the time to make it is now, not this summer when everyone around you is panicking.
Birth control access shouldn't be affected by this decision, but look into longer acting and more effective methods, like IUDs (99.995% effectiveness typical and perfect use) and subdermal implants (99.995% typical and perfect) over things like the pill (99+% perfect, 91% typical) or condoms alone (98% perfect, 82% typical) that are less effective and easier to lose access to, and use both a barrier method like a condom and a hormonal method if you can. Planned Parenthood has a list of methods sorted by effectiveness here. Plan B lasts about a year, and is considered effective for 72 hours after sex but drops exponentially in effectiveness as time passes: if you don't reliably have a spare $50 and access to a pharmacy that stocks Plan B or ellaOne, buy a back up Plan B when you're able to to ensure you can take emergency contraceptives as soon as possible for the best results.
Start tracking your cycle now: medication abortions are the only ones that can be self managed and are only possible up to 11 weeks after the start of your last period. Not after conception, after the first day of your last period. The effectiveness of medication abortion drops after 8 weeks pregnant, and some sources will say it's only effective up to week 10. If your next period is late and there's even a miniscule possibility you could be pregnant, take a pregnancy test immediately (the dollar store ones are the same as the expensive pharmacy tests). Don't wait to see if it shows up a couple weeks late or if next month's comes: by the time you reach your first missed period, you're already considered 4 weeks pregnant, and you need as much time as possible to coordinate an out of state abortion or a self managed abortion. Waiting for two missed periods puts you at 8 weeks pregnant, almost at the point where you need to start altering dosages for medication abortion to be effective. Don't cut it that close: it's better to waste a dollar on a test than have to seek out a second trimester abortion.
Have a plan for how you will get an abortion, both within the first 10 weeks and after. For early abortions, you will be able to self manage. Plan C, Aid Access, medicationabortion.com, Women on Web, and Women Help Women can all help you obtain the medications you need or information about how to use them, either by mailing them directly or by connecting you to resources: bookmark these.
For abortions past 10 or 11 weeks, things are more complicated, but they are not hopeless. You need to have a plan, though. Do you know where the nearest abortion clinic in a pro choice state is? Do you know how much that abortion will cost and how you will get that money, both for the clinic costs and the cost of travel, accommodations, and two to four days of lost wages? Do you know if they do in-clinic abortions (the only option after 10 weeks) or just medication abortions? What's the latest they can go? Look into local abortion funds or access support organizations. More will emerge as need increases, but scoping them out now will save valuable time and give you peace of mind. Some of the resources linked in the last paragraph may be able to help connect you as well.
Again, I'm not trying to incite panic here, but things are not looking good when it comes to abortion access in the United States, and you need to be prepared. Time is of the essence when it comes to abortions, even without restrictive bans, and having information and a plan before you lose access and especially before you get pregnant buys you time.
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paraicelife · 2 years
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No period for 3 months after abortion. Is it normal?
When should you worry about missing your period?
Rest assured, if you have not had your period this month or even longer, there is no danger. There are many different reasons why you may not have your period for a while: some are well known, others are more surprising.
Is it normal not to have your period for a month?
Did your period not start on the expected date or on the following days? Or have you even missed your period for 2 months or more? It's time to understand what's going on in your cycle. The first explanation, of course, is the beginning of a pregnancy. You can buy a pregnancy test at the pharmacy to find out for sure. If you have no period and the test is negative, here are some other possible causes.
No period after pregnancy
After giving birth, it is normal to have an absence of periods for some time. On average, they return 6 to 8 weeks after the birth, sometimes much later if you are breastfeeding.
The absence of menstruation lasts for the same length of time after a miscarriage.
After a medically induced abortion, the absence of menstruation also lasts for one and a half or two months, but as contraception is usually started immediately after the abortion, the menstruation does not reappear.
If you stop or pause taking the pill, the absence of periods...
If you take the pill, the bleeding you have after each pack is not a real period because ovulation is blocked by the hormones. They are therefore rarely heavy and sometimes they simply do not occur, especially if you are taking a micro progestin-only pill. But even if there is no period on the pill, or no period during the pill break, contraception is still normally effective.
Good to know: there is normally always a small amount of bleeding during the week's break between two packs of the oestroprogestogenic pill. If there is amenorrhoea, a pregnancy should be investigated (sometimes due to a missed pill, for example).
After stopping the pill, you may have no periods for a few months. If it lasts longer than 4 or 5 months, do not hesitate to consult a gynaecologist or a midwife: they can prescribe a hormonal treatment so that everything returns to normal.
If you are wearing a hormonal IUD, it is logical that you should not have any periods at all, as the IUD blocks ovulation. There are different dosages for hormonal IUDs, so you may have your period if the dosage is low.
However, if you notice that you have no periods while wearing a copper IUD, this is not normal: take a pregnancy test or consult a doctor or midwife.
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