A progressive, secular Jewish magazine has published an utterly garish step-by-step guide advising women on how they can perform an abortion on themselves at home.
The piece, published at “Jewish Currents,” is a damning indictment of our culture’s view towards the unborn — that they should be treated with utter disregard and be stripped of absolutely any semblance of personhood.
“For as long as people have gotten pregnant, people have given themselves abortions,” the piece opens, before launching into a vulgar, illustrative history of how women down the ages have terminated their unborn children.
The piece references a Libyan plant, “silphium,” which was supposedly used as an “effective contraceptive and abortifacient,” from the Bronze Age until the 1st or 2nd century.
The real horror, however, comes when the writers explain — in harrowing, clinical detail — how women can self-administer their own abortions at home.
The process is laid out with stark simplicity, two steps of which can be read below:
- Get yourself some pills — “When doctors perform medical abortions using pills, they use two drugs: mifepristone and misoprostol. Mifeprisotone is harder to obtain in person (although some websites now sell it as part of a combination pack of pills), so the instructions here are for misoprostol only, which still has an 85% success rate at ending a pregnancy when taken alone.”
Shockingly, the piece then seems to suggest, or perhaps even joke, that women with friends in the veterinary field may find it easier to obtain the suitable abortion-inducing drug required. “Misoprostol is also used to treat stomach ulcers in dogs. If you have a relationship with a local, friendly vet, you might be able to work it to your advantage!” it notes.
2. Prepare yourself — The piece then compares preparing for an abortion as not dissimilar to “assembling IKEA furniture,” because “managing your abortion is easier and safer with a friend.”
“Make sure this friend is someone you trust to be discreet, to help protect you from legal risk,” it adds.
The disturbingly casual nature with which the writers describe such a life-shattering event is reflected in the simple illustrations used to narrate the process of terminating a living being.
One such image depicts a woman sat on a couch having swallowed her lethal dose of abortifacients; a packet of chips and a ginger ale are visible on the table in front of her. The picture speaks of the astonishing normalization of such a brutal act — though the little life inside her is being swiftly dissolved, the woman looks as if she’s settling down for a quiet afternoon in front of the TV.
Of course, the description of what occurs next is far from light-hearted.
“You’ll know your abortion has begun when you start to cramp and bleed, which can happen anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours after you take the first pills,” it reads. “To avoid infection, use pads for the bleeding, and not tampons or a cup. Some unpleasant side effects of misoprostol can include dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and headaches, as well as fever and chills.”
Perhaps the most shocking section of the guide emerges towards the end when the writers appear to suggest a method of inducing abortion that will deceive doctors into believing that it was a natural miscarriage. This piece of sordid advice is most likely aimed at women living in states where abortions are regulated by laws seeking to protect the unborn.
“The good news is, if you’ve followed the instructions, there’s no medical way for a doctor to tell whether you’ve taken pills to induce abortion or if you’re having a miscarriage,” it reads. “The only way a doctor will know is if you or your friend share the information, which you absolutely do not have to do.”
The vile guide was highlighted by Alexandra DeSanctis of the National Review, who posted it on Twitter. A pro-life journalist, DeSanctis was met with a barrage of responses from people expressing their deep horror and disgust at the piece.
“Awful. Do they give instructions on what to do when you start hemorrhaging?” one asked. “Or when you deliver your tiny 10 week old baby in your hands and see that it is fully formed and it’s not just a clump of cells like you had been told? Or # of a psychiatrist to help deal with baby loss?”
“Horrific and disgusting,” another added.