We need to talk about Jessa Duggar and this "abortion" controversy…

As a medical professional how do you feel about changing the medical language from abortion to something else. I asked this because a lot of laws are going into effect using the word abortion and I wonder if maybe changing the medical language would at least help protect the rights of women who need medical interventions such as dnc's.

Two things can be true at the same time. You can vehemently disagree with someone's philosophy and still hold compassion for them in certain situations. I have friends who have struggled fertility and miscarriage, and it's not something I'd wish on anyone. The lack of understanding about what pregnancy and OBGYN issues entail is something I feel both sides of the argument misconstrue, as can be seen in the Twitter diatribe. As you said, abortion can happen naturally, but it's become such a politicized term that when people hear it, they automatically think of one thing, and that's how we get utter nonsense like "the female body can shut that kind of thing down." I think your nuanced and measured approach to this was excellent. It made perfect sense to me. I'm also someone who's had a D&C even though I've never been pregnant. When I first heard that's what I was getting, I was very confused until I asked questions and looked it up. I always thought it was ONLY used for medical abortions, but that's completely false.

My favorite trolling comment I leave is that I terminated a pregnancy. People get outraged. I tell them that it ended in a live birth. Terminate just means end. I had an emergency C-Section on a full-term (plus one week) fetus. It was not natural and required medical help for me to complete. How stupid would I look over 20 years later if I still had him growing inside???

Restore Roe v. Wade!

She should be in jail

people should heed your advice, not only in respect to this topic but in general. empathy must come first, empathy in fact is the basis to be able to have a rational and productive discussion – you need to want to understand your opponent to make sure you're actually against what they stand for and not maybe just looking at the exact same solution from two different angles; and the feelings of the involved are inportant truths – not what they believe is fact, but how they feel about their situation, that is very much a reality.

all that party-line politics does is help keep the political establishment running its dysfunctional games.
i despise most of what i hear from right-wing politics.. but if a right-winger is on the ground and cries, i don't want to kick them.
maybe, yes, someone who's close to her should at some point tell her "you know, this is how people feel when then know they have no choice but to get an abortion" but who knows. we can't demand empathy if we're not willing to give it. especially to those whom we disagree with. not just for them, but for others who otherwise become collateral damage.

Okay this is uk terms so dont come after me, from a surgical, procedural stand point a STOP (surgical termination of pregnancy) and ERPOC (Evacuation of retained products of conception) is pretty much the same procedure requiring the same equipment. But one is what is socially called an abortion the other is removing whats left after a miscarriage either from medical termination or spontaneous pregnancy loss. Neither procedure is shameful or should anyone be attacked for needing to go through either.

It’s the fascist Republican way….one set of rules for themselves and a completely different set for the rest of us. Vote for freedom for ALL and save our country. Vote Democrat everywhere!!!!!

You keep saying pregnancy is dangerous and I appreciate that. No matter what ignorance people say, it is dangerous. My mother had to get sterilized because my youngest brother almost killed her.

Dr mama Jones you are my hero 🙏 thank you so much for being a great doctor

Jessa was able to get care that many people have not been able to get!

Those people have no common sense & anyone who thinks that lifestyle is ok is nuts

I've had 3 miscarriages. My first was very early at 5 weeks. I started bleeding at home. My 2nd one was a missed miscarriage. I went in at 8 1/2 weeks to have an ultrasound and the baby had no heartbeat. My 3rd miscarriage, I went in again at 8 1/2 weeks and all they could see was an empty sac. I didn't have to have a D&C with either one. It happened on its own. Having to have a D&C due to a missed miscarriage isn't abortion in the way that we think of what an abortion is. That doesn't involve ending a pregnancy. It involves cleaning the remnants of a pregnancy that has already ended naturally.

I only have 1 child that i ever gave bith to. She is my "miracle" child. From a young age i was told i would never even be able to get pregnant, and if i did, i would never carry it full term. I have had numerous miscarriages. I cant even count them for sure. I had at least 1 miscarriage before my i had my daughter, and several more after her. I had gone to many OB doctors and even fertility specialist and was told the same thing. So my daughter IS my MIRACLE baby. I have always wanted a large family so this saddened me and put me into a major depression for many years. And then when i was in my 40s i had to have a hysterectomy. I had a 10 pound mass growing on my right ovary that was full of my own blood. Then to top it all off i also had uterine cancer. I never had what would be concerned "normal" periods, and NO doctor could ever figure out why or how to stop them. I would bleed for months or not have a period for several months, and NOT be pregnant. I always felt less of a woman for all of this. This is something i will carry with me for the rest of my life. Not knowing why, why did i bleed so heavily? Almost as if i was hemorrhaging. Why did i not have periods for severl months and not be pregnant? Why couldnt i have babies? What wrecked my reproduction organs?

Very sad

I am personally against abortion, however I am for people to have autonomy over their own bodies and choices.
I wouldn't want my wife to have one, but if she made that choice, I would support her.
She's my love, my partner, the mother of my youngest (favorite...shh don't tell my other kids) child.

Thank you for the time you spent trying to explain all of this. I know Jessa had really bad bleeding after at least one home birth and had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. I suspect that’s why she chose d and c in a controlled setting for this loss. I hope peoples opinions don’t make wooden feel that they have to miscarry at home with possible bleeding complications.

I have such a hard time wrapping my head around this. When I was pro life, I understood that the body naturally aborted for whatever reasons (miscarriage). I understood that if a fetus dies, you need to remove that and at that point no one is ending the life of child who as already lost their life. I understood sometimes people that want their babies still have to abort, that it was incredibly risky for a child to carry to term, ect.

So it boggles my mind that it's controversial to remove a dead fetus, that people are seriously angry over this.

People who label a D&C as an abortion, even those are doing so in an effort to point out republican hypocrisy, are going to be the reason why republicans decide, "you're right, it IS an abortion!" and make it illegal for women to even get one when they need it.

I had a missed miscarriage last spring, and it was devastating - I can't imagine being publicly dragged for "having an abortion," when our baby was very much wanted and loved. My heart breaks for her!

But is the "cross-use" of the "abortion" terms different in the eyes of laws/legislation (e.g. Texas)? Would any woman have access to a D&C procedure within the anti-abortion laws being passed?

Because if those laws prevent the D&C procedure, then I think the cross-use of the terms is accurate for the point of highlighting the hypocrisy of the government intervention being delivered on the topic.

How many women are forced to carry nonviable fetuses because of her yet she was able to rid hers. Hypocrite she should have been forced to risk her womb and fertility like so many other women due to her actions!

It cannot be defined as a termination of pregnancy as the pregnancy was no longer viable. What would you do? Have some compassion for this young lady who has lost what she longed for.

Maybe they didn’t realize that “missed miscarriage” is a thing and she didn’t just stutter on the first syllable of miscarriage. Regardless the person reporting should have done some research.

This is the first video of yours that I found difficult to follow. I’m sure it was because your emotions were all over the place. I wish you could have been more clear between a spontaneous abortion vs an abortion done because it was an unwanted pregnancy. (Is there a medical term for the unwanted pregnancy abortion?)
It breaks my heart for woman (and their families) who miscarried a loved and wanted pregnancy. And to have it termed to the public as a miscarriage, as in Jessa Seewald’s experience is so sad. She was left struggling with the grief of losing the baby that she and her husband desperately wanted, and having to deal with her public image.
It should be illegal for the press to release to the public half of the truth, especially when they know all of it. If they insist on releasing private information about a person in the public eye, they should tell 100% of the story. They should spell out that it was a spontaneous abortion and how that differs from aborting an unwanted pregnancy. And I think we as the public should absolutely learn the difference as well.
DMJ, please use your platform to educate us. Thank you very much.

Although I disagree with some things you say, your approach on this topic has encouraged me to change my tune (instead of donating my time and money to organisations who want to change laws, I donate my time and money to organisations that help single mothers raise an unplanned child (they also provide a safe space for mothers who have post abortion regrets/PPD after a termination to talk to a trained professional), I can't see how encouraging a woman to have a child without practically helping her raise him/her is a productive activity, to me allowing women who are yet to have an abortion the opportunity to access financial and social security is the most productive, and empathetic, way to be pro-life). I live in a country where elective abortions are very much legal, if not promoted, it is very much legal for medical practitioners to allow perfectly viable full term babies to die post-failed abortion procedure (from memory it's less than 100 per year but that's still a tragedy in my view as they child is not impacting the mother in any capacity (who has the full right to place the child up for adoption at that point) and should, by any definition, have the right to autonomy and self-determination). As a very justice-oriented teen I was extremely pro life socially and legally (I was (still am) very politically active and took part in every activism imaginable advocating for the reinstallment of abortion legislation) but, as a person, empathy isn't my strong point so I'm not proud of the way I spoke about women who wanted elective abortions (to be honest the idea of prohibiting medically required abortions wasn't even considered by your staunchest pro-life organisations in Australia- well at least not in the ones who have a seat at the table so to say).

Well said! 👏

This video is a perfect example of why I'm happy I discovered your channel: your commitment to education + your compassion, combined with your commitment to your principles. I'm very late to this video, but it still made me reflect on my snap judgements. Thank you.

I vote that we politicize the prostate and make men get the approval of their state's supreme court to get it removed or disturbed in any way, including any treatment that might effect the prostate in any way.

As my mom said to me a long time ago “Mother Nature does not miscarry a healthy baby “ Px

Thank you for all of your videos! One thing I’m a little unclear on is, what is a missed miscarriage?

Get a life.

You are making a lot of sense. The fact that this woman want to take compassion and needed medical care for one problem from other women do not mean that she dont deserve compassion needed medical care for her problem. (It has been interesting if her fetus had had a hart-beat and she had been forced to carry it to term but offcorse I dont wich that on enyone)

Two missed miscarriages in a row here. Second one I hemorrhaged. Was raced to ER and given an ultrasound. The male tech stated maybe I would remember this the next time I decided to destroy my baby. I was stunned: I told him I had a dnc because my baby died and he said dubiously "yeah that's what they all say". He also went out of his way to make the UA more painful.
I filled a complaint with that hospital, but he was a traveling temp and was long gone. I will never be alone with a male ultrasound tech again.

As someone who’s experienced finding out her very much wanted first baby and pregnancy no longer had a heartbeat at 16 weeks. I was advised by my obgyn at the time to move forward with the D&C because it would overall be a less painful experience both physically, mentally, and emotionally so I did on a Friday, 2 days after I got the horrible news. After the procedure I went home and followed doctors instructions. The following Wednesday I woke up and went to the bathroom and I had a lot of blood/bleeding so I kneeled in the tub in front of the faucet to wash up. Next thing I know I was laying all the way back in the tub and came to due to my husband at the time shaking me and screaming/crying to my mom to call 911. He helped me get dressed and get in bed. Incomplete D&C was the diagnosis. Next day went to my obgyn and we scheduled a second D&C that was ultrasound guided for the next day. This was my first and only pregnancy experience. 2 years later I was experiencing irregular bleeding and under the care of a new obgyn (I love her, she’s literally my hero, was the 3-4 provider that I went to that immediately within 15 mins found the problem!) Had to have a hystoroscopy (sp?) she went in my uterus with a camera. Said I had a lot of scar tissue. She cleaned up what I could and said I should be able to conceive again. I’m now 40…no relationships led to a pregnancy. I hate the ignorance surrounding the D&C procedure. Thank you so so much for doing this video. ❤

what breaks my heart still though is Jessa had a D+C that may have saved her life, but because of how polarising politics is with this topic, she technically would be willing to take that option away from a person down the line who would be in the same situation, missed miscarriage that the body needs help to get rid of in order to prevent complications.

Why people are fascinated with any of the Duggars is beyond me. However, I am sympathetic to any woman who would have this unfortunate event happen to them.

I had a miscarriage at 21 I was 8-10 weeks along. The pregnancy was unplanned but it wasn't any less wanted or loved. It says in my medical record "spontaneous abortion". It was hard and when i went to the base medical center (I was in the military at the time) they did an internal ultrasound my uterus was empty so they did a blood test to see how much hormones were in my system. I waited all day for them to tell me what was going on finally a doctor came out to ask me if I had been informed yet cause he was surprised to see me there (I got in there at like 8am and this was now about 3pm) He grabs my chart looks at it and just blurts out oh you're not pregnant you can go back to your ship. He then walked away. So I went back to my boat questioning if I even had been pregnant. So when I got back I went to my boats medical department and asked what the hell was going on. That was when my ship's doc told me no you WERE pregnant YOU had a miscarriage.

I am strongly pro life and also have had 4 miscarriages, 3 of which I needed a d&c to remove the non-living baby. This is NOT an abortion because the babies were no longer alive. Please be kind to Jessa as she is going through a very difficult time in her life.

The baby already had no heartbeat though.

Miscarriage is hard. I had the option to do d&c or meds at home. I chose the meds at home and it was hard seeing the medication say for abortion. I did not. want to lose my baby. It still bothers me, glad you have explained this bc I never understood why the medication said abortion.

Thank you, for the compassion you have.

I know someone who had a D&C because of endometriosis, I also know someone who had an abortion. They are definitely two different procedures that can and have been done for the same result.

As much as I dislike the Duggars, this behavior is just awful. A miscarriage is a time for empathy and understanding, regardless of personal beliefs.

Because you know what they could've done instead? They could have compassionately explained their sympathies for her loss, and gently explain the medical terms for miscarriage and D&C. We probably wouldn't have changed the Duggar's mind, but maybe other people passively reading could've understood and changed their minds.

Instead the pro life crowd will see this hostility and only become more resolute in their beliefs. Because nothing is more welcoming than saying someone "deserved" a miscarriage for their personal beliefs 🙄

But twitter only cares about rage, not compassion or nuance.

This sort of reminds me of an article I read about how the language of saying that a fetus isn't a living person when used for induced abortions of healthy pregnancy can make women and afab people who are infertile or who have lost a pregnancy they wanted feel very isolated and can explain part of why they may then go pro-life even if they don't actually logically support all that banning abortion actually entails - they just emotionally respond to being told (in their minds) that the thing they desperately wanted wasn't alive and the implication that that fetus they lost or fetus they wish they had isn't a thing that matters. I wish I could find the article, but basically the take away was devaluing the fetus just alienates a percentage of women and afab people, when really access to pro-choice healthcare isn't about devaluing the fetus but instead is about valuing the pregnant person - if you had a miscarriage, that IS a loss of a real living baby human. If you are infertile and wish you could get pregnant, what you wish you had is a real living baby human. In both cases, that is a life and a loss that matters, it is not a "clump of cells without value". But that shouldn't devalue that a person who is pregnant is a real living (hopefully adult but not always) human too who should not be forced to have their life and well-being put at risk by people who do not understand their situation and needs. Again, I wish I could find it, it was a really interesting take on how being more compassionate to other experiences of pregnancy (or lack thereof) in women and afab people can potentially lead to - if not agreement - at least discussions where people aren't shutting down because they feel like their own experiences and trauma are being dismissed.

She had a miscarriage. A miscarriage is not an abortion. What a disgusting thing. I hope you arent a real nurse, putting down someone who lost their child. Despicable!!!!

"they won't get an epiphany because that's not how they see it?" Because there is someone out there who sees the removal of a living fetus from a woman's uterus being equal to removal of a dead fetus?

So here is my comment, because I very much appeeciate your work.

You will probably never see this, but I must say we probably disagree alot, but you've earned my respect. Not like you need a random stranger on the internet respect, but wanted to encourage you.
Thank you