Early Options is a model of how all medical care should be—not just abortion, and not just women’s health. Doctor F is a visionary, with a commitment to treating women’s reproductive decisions with privacy, dignity, and respect. I would imagine that for many people, as was the case for me, making the decision to have an abortion is something that may be painful and fraught. I can honestly say that the emotional suffering I endured throughout the course of my unplanned pregnancy began to dissipate the minute I walked through the door. The clinic is clean and discrete, the staff is attentive and kind, and the doctor is gentle, caring, and patient. I would recommend Early Options to absolutely anyone facing a similar situation.
Apart from the soothing setting and the remarkably caring professionalism of the staff (it’s true that the assistant will offer to hold your hand during the procedure!), what was most surprising to me was how absolutely simple the aspiration procedure is. Done with only local anesthesia and a plastic syringe, the procedure is no more complicated or painful that a slightly prolonged pap smear. Indeed, the abortion itself was so quick, painless, and fast that once it was over, I was back on my feet in minutes and feeling great. Not quite believing in advance how simple the procedure would be, I had arranged to take the afternoon off from work, but it turned out that I could have gone back immediately had I chosen to. Once the abortion was over, I could not believe all the political and moral hoopla that surrounds this procedure! Anti-abortionists (and even many supposedly pro-choice people) describe abortion as a trauma to the body, but it was so minor and insignificant compared to the physical ills that accompany pregnancy! I had almost no cramping, very little bleeding, and the nausea from my pregnancy that I had been feeling all month began to dissipate right away.
I also learned from talking to the doctor (and from some follow-up research that I did on my own) that the procedure she uses is, unfortunately, not widely employed anymore in the United States. But it is used through much of the world in places where abortion is hard to obtain and is called menstrual extraction. Because the procedure is so simple, it is one that women can administer to one another in basic clinics, and elaborate medical technologies are not required.
Early Options is an actually existing instance of how abortion would be administered in an ideal world. I feel lucky to live in New York and to have had the opportunity to meet Dr. F!
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