Why I got an 'Abortion'

This is the story of how I found out I had 1, then 2 fast-growing lumps in my uterus-- and why getting them removed would be considered an "abortion" even though I was never pregnant. My experience just scrapes the tip of the iceberg of this very nuanced issue; so many more people have it worse, and I am very very lucky to in a place where I'm able to get a D&C. Our current lawmakers are barring people from accessing the healthcare they need, risking lives over things they don't care to understand, and it makes me sick.

THE TEAM:

AUDIO EDITOR: Cory

STORYBOARDS:

Belle

Laddi

Tyler

BACKGROUNDS + ASSETS:

Oskar

Clover

Nunu

ANIMATION:

Laddi

Delaney

Breeezy

Viral

Annika

Riah

PRODUCTION MANAGER: Mel

CHANNEL MANAGEMENT: David Seelos

#illymation #mychoice

[illymation]

Thank you all for being so kind and supportive. I was really nervous to talk about this, and I didn’t know how y’all as fans of me / the internet would react. What a relief to see an outpouring of support for this issue and for one another’s stories!

If you want to make a difference, see how you can help in your local communities! Volunteer, make your voices heard in your local representatives’ voicemail boxes, and donate to a cause that can ensure the right to accessible and affordable healthcare!

[Theviolentredpanda]

Going to an abortion clinic in the conservative state I live in is disgusting. I wasnt even going for an abortion, I was there to support a friend who was lightheaded and needed someone to drive her. I got screamed at for being a murderer and a sl** and a wh***. But the worst thing I saw was a teenager who had clearly been crying alot getting harrassed. They called her an idiot, a wh***, a sl**, a b****. For making a mistake. Nobody yells at the boys. It takes two to tango. But no, it's only the women.

[LetMeExplainStudios]

Thank you so much for sharing your story, Illysa. You have no idea how important it is to talk about these things.

[Racoony]

Bro being arrested for not wanting to die is just flat out evil

[EcIp]

People just don’t understand that abortions are sometimes essential to stay alive, without the baby going away the mother would also die. Its evil to let that happen :(

[nexsus]

As a female I had no idea any removal was a abortion. This is such valuable information everyone should learn.

[LviathanGG]

Anti-Abortion lawmakers mansplaning what defines an Abortion is the most American thing I've ever heard

[PerfectlyEdited]

13:38 "You don't value my life. You don't value the living. You only value an organ and its ability to produce children. Not the actual living, breathing person who for some reason, has to beg for the right of their life, their liberty and their happiness." That hits so hard. 😭😭😭

[moonkitty]

The real kicker is that in many places now, not only do unborn foetuses and dead bodies have more bodily rights than a uterus bearing person does, but so do mutated cancerous tumours since the person has no rights to remove them

[lukasbanana]

Regardless if you believe in abortion or not, it’s upsetting to hear how difficult it was to get basic medical care.





(This is a small edit, but I meant to say whether you SUPPORT abortion or not. it is a real thing, and an on-going moral debate right now. There's been some good debate in the replies, but no mean-spirited comments are needed please. There's nothing intentionally malicious about what I said. We're all people who believe different things, tackling a very important issue. Bottom line is that Everyone deserves FAIR love and treatment. Period.)

[logisticstone]

It’s really sad we have to sacrifice the living for the unborn. Banning abortion doesn’t stop abortions, it just stops safe abortions.

[wolftank]

It’s disturbing the way people treat women’s medical care

[someone-rrwh]

This girl can’t catch a fricking break… eczema, pneumonia, asthma, autistic, struggling with mental health, and a horrible and early period..

[spectremetus]

Rest in Peace my best cousin Cassie❤
I still remember when we played so many board games back then😢

[boiman]

the fact that there are some situations where not getting an abortion could actually kill you, and these people are trying to stop it is disgusting

[richardryley]

This needs to be repeated until it finally sinks in. An "abortion" can include a miscarriage, it can include an embryo that has implanted outside of the uterus, it can include a fetus that has died and still remains in the womb, and it can include growths such as this one. Anyone who tells you "That's not an abortion" is either lying to you, or doesn't know the medical terminology they are talking about.

To those who think that the fact that the growth in this case turned out to be cancerous and not an embryo means it wasn't an abortion, remember that the doctor couldn't really tell that until it was removed and biopsied. It wasn't likely to be the case, since the author was very careful about using birth control, but it ot was still possible that it was a pregnancy gone wrong. The doctors would also have to provide proof that the tissue removed was not a fetus if the state chose to prosecute - which recent events suggest that they would.

This is entirely due to lawmakers using the blanket term "abortion" which is a medical term, and not widely understood by non-doctors. If the lawmakers wanted to clarify the meaning of "abortion", calling it an "elective abortion" perhaps, or "termination of a viable pregnancy' that would be a stsrt. But I speculate that pro-embryo activists don't want to use that language, because they don't WANT a mother to be able to terminate a non-viable pregnancy, or an ectopic pregnancy or one that threatens the mother's life. They WANT her to die. That wasn't pity she was seeing in those protesters. It was fanatics wanting to stone her for being a sinner.

[MessedUpZucchini]

Gosh, I’m a woman, and I’m so grateful to be in Canada where I can safely get uterine and reproductive care like this without the fear of being prosecuted. We are with you, all of you, and we pray that your government will come to its senses again. I’m so sorry this is happening. You deserve better.

[Lovely]

Crying rn thinking of those women in Texas who testified about how their babies were literally dying inside them and how they knew that the baby they were carrying was never going to have a life and how they couldnt let their baby die with dignity because some lawmaker wants to make Handmaid's Tale a reality.

[genevievehoskins]

As a Christian, the anti abortion protesters mortify me. I am so sorry for all the so-called followers of Christ that scream in women's faces about abortions. While abortion is a last-resort thing for me, I would NEVER tell anyone what they could or could not do with their bodies. Especially since Planned Parenthood saved my mom's life when they found that she had cervical cancer. PP offers so many wonderful health services as well as affordable contraception, and I would love to see more clinics set up around the country.

[Its.ur.fav.Savannah]

The facts that old people who DONT HAVE UTERUSES are trying to control people WITH UTERUSES even if it is life or death is absolutely disgusting