A discussion of later abortion with Jen Hamilton, L&D nurse
Jen Hamilton is an L&D nurse with a substantial following on social media, including 3.7M followers on TikTok. Her followers love her for her funny and compassionate content. She’s a major influencer.
She’s not an abortion activist. By that I mean she doesn’t consider herself “pro-abortion” and her content is not primarily about abortion. She talks about a range of topics related to obstetrics.
However, since Dobbs, Jen has started speaking about abortion more often, which is how I first learned of her.
2023 exchange
In April 2023, SPL followers tagged me in the comments of one of Jen’s videos in which she claimed “late-term abortion is not happening, it’s called having a baby.” She went on to describe parents who receive adverse prenatal diagnoses for very wanted children and choose to induce labor early and say goodbye to those children.
Jen was speaking from experience. She’s an L&D nurse in a hospital. Hospitals see parents who endure stillbirth or medical emergencies later in pregnancy. Hospital staff can support families going through premature labor, and in some cases they may intervene to induce labor or do an emergency c-section.
Jen does not work in an “all trimester” abortion clinic. I suspect she has no experience with inducing fetal demise via pharmaceutical agents (injecting poison into a baby’s heart) or D&E (dilation and evacuation, a dismemberment procedure). If she does, it will be only in cases of medical emergencies. Hopefully she also has never had to participate in ID&X (intact dilation and extraction, sometimes called “partial birth abortion”). It’s unlikely she has experience assisting with any form of abortions for otherwise healthy, viable babies.
This selection bias may explain why she appears to not know such practices exist. Being a medical professional doesn’t make a person omnipotent.
Jen speaks about “later abortion” based on her direct experiences, which are simultaneously fundamental to her perspective yet not representative of the full scope of the issue.
So when SPL followers tagged me in Jen’s “late-term abortion isn’t happening” video, I responded to explain that later abortion is happening, and it is not just “having a baby.”
I don’t know if Jen ever saw my video. Her account is much larger than Secular Pro-Life’s and likely gets tagged frequently. If she did see the video, she never responded.
2024 exchange
Fast forward about a year and a half, and SPL followers point me to another video in which Jen suggests later abortions are exclusively about parents choosing abortion as a type of mercy for dearly loved children who have severe medical issues.
Unlike her earlier video, this time she was more aggressive, telling pro-lifers who raise the issue of later abortion that we have “no clue” what we’re talking about. So, in this instance, I responded a little more aggressively.
Transcript:
Abortions after 20 weeks, after viability, and into the third trimester are sometimes for very wanted pregnancies with heartbroken parents, yes. And other times they’re not. Jen, if you’re going to be so condescending, at least be honest. Do me a favor. Look up the Washington-Surgi clinic in Washington DC, and call them. Give them an LMP date that suggests that you are 27 weeks pregnant. Tell them you want to get an abortion in the next week or two, 28-29 weeks. And then let me know what they ask you about the medical status of your child. Just kidding I already know. They don’t ask you anything. They’re not legally required to have a medical reason to abort a healthy, 28-week baby and they won’t ask you for a reason because they don’t care. Sometimes it’s for fatal fetal anomaly, sometimes it’s because they didn’t know they were pregnant, sometimes it’s because they have a break up. If you’re fine with aborting healthy viable babies for any reason, okay, but then just own that.
I speak with confidence about calling the Washington Surgi Clinic at 27 weeks pregnant, because I’ve done it. I made an appointment for an abortion the following week, and then I went in person to the clinic at 28 weeks pregnant. I talk about the experience in great detail elsewhere.
For the purposes of this post, it’s important to note that neither on the phone nor in person did anyone from the Washington Surgi clinic ever ask me anything about the medical status of my healthy 28-week daughter, Ruby. They didn’t ask me anything about my health history beyond a few specific issues that could be related to the abortion procedure. They did not screen me for mental health issues or intimate partner violence. They didn’t ask if anyone had discussed all my options with me, or if I was interested in resources regarding other options. They didn’t ask why I was seeking a non-medical 28 week abortion.
Instead, the nurses made sure I could pay for the procedure, and then reassured me that everything was okay, and that I could do this (get an elective 28-week abortion).
I did not get an abortion that day. My daughter Ruby left the clinic with me. She is now 2.5 years old:
Secular Pro-Life has gathered many sources evidencing at least some later abortions, even after viability, are performed on otherwise healthy babies.
We’ve found that most pro-choice people will look for any reason to dismiss or deny this. Sometimes I respond by telling people they don’t have to take my word for anything. They can just call the clinic and ask for themselves. This was my suggestion to Jen.
To my surprise, she responded.
There’s plenty in her response to be frustrated about. But there are also several points of potential common ground:
- She doesn’t want to be considered “pro-abortion.”
- She wants people to have compassion for families with wanted pregnancies who find themselves in difficult and heartbreaking situations.
- She cares about protecting and supporting her patients.
- She has, so far, not defended the idea of aborting healthy, viable babies.
And finally her general demeanor is one of someone who is trying to speak calmly and be understood.
So, while she didn’t really respond to or perhaps even understand my point, I thought I’d try to talk to her again, this time less aggressively, and see if I can make any headway:
(By the way, you can find links to the citations in that video in the YouTube description, if you’re curious.)
I don’t know if Jen watched or considered the video above. I gave it a shot. But either way, I’ve been deeply gratified by many of the comments under the video on TikTok and Instagram.
First, I’m always grateful for the kind comments from pro-lifers. I don’t always have time them, but when I do, and I see the people in our corner, it’s very encouraging.
But second, this particular exchange inspired the rare and precious pro-choice encouragement. There were a few comments from pro-choicers who seemed to respond well to my attempt at a “let’s talk this out” tone. Favorite example:
These are all doors opening. Maybe they will stick around for more information or discussion over time.
Useful conversations about abortion are possible. Our advocacy (and our demeanor) matters. You never know who is listening.
[Read more – Quick tips for making online abortion debates worthwhile]
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