I am 30 years old with stage 3a breast cancer, unverified stage 4. What I knew when I was diagnosed was that I would get treatment and had a great chance of entering remission, with “curative” marked as the goal of my treatment plan. I knew I would lose both of my breasts because I tested positive for the BRCA1 gene. I knew I would lose my hair. I knew this journey would be fucking hard. What I didn’t know was the impact of treatment like chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation can not only end a current pregnancy and/or cause extreme complications, but can also impact my ability to bear children in the future. I will have a hysterectomy by the time I am 40. There is a very high chance that my treatment will leave me barren, but at the same time a pregnancy during treatment would result in me needing an abortion.  ⁣⁣
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Today, Roe v. Wade was overturned by the United States Supreme Court, overturning a decades long precedent ensuring a woman’s right to bodily autonomy by accessing legal and safe abortion services. It will have catastrophic consequences for women of children bearing age like me with a cancer diagnosis. Imagine a woman finding out she is pregnant during her cancer treatment or prior to her treatment, in need of an abortion, and prosecuted for the side effects of cancer treatment essentially criminalizing cancer.  

According to the Washington State Department of Health’s Facebook post, “Abortion was legal in Washington state before Roe v Wade, has been legal here for more than 50 years, and remains legal now. Washington state has a long history of supporting the full spectrum of reproductive rights and will continue to do so. At the Washington State Department of Health, we work to make sure that sexual and reproductive health services are available across the state.” I realize that while I live in this state with our existing governor, these services will remain accessible, but I fear for the future. I fear that there could be a time when these services are removed.
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I recognize that my specific story is just a small example of the many reasons women seek abortion services, but the conversation around fertility has been a large one during my treatment. I receive a hormone blocker once a month that has caused me to enter chemically induced menopause. My ovaries are currently shut down and I no longer make estrogen, for my cancer is hormone positive and feeds off of that hormone. But I am still at risk of becoming pregnant during treatment. If I become pregnant during treatment, I will need an abortion. Period.

Cancer has taken so much from me. It has taken away so many of the choices I can make about my own healthcare and body for the rest of my life. It is horrific and I wrestle with that every day. But I also believe that no other human being has the right to take away someone else’s choice with their own body. Bodily autonomy is so important. Abortion is healthcare. ⁣⁣The removal of access to safe abortions will not stop abortions. Women will die.

Special thank you to my friend Heather for helping me capture this image. I have altered the previous narrative I wrote for it the first time I shared it on Instagram to match the updates with Roe v. Wade.