Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., says her second abortion was performed against her will and that health practitioners brushed her off because she is Black.
She arrived at the clinic "thinking back to the first abortion, 'OK, you've done this before, you know the rooms, you know what it looks like, you know what it feels like in this place, you know what to expect, you know that you may experience even some harm in this space.' Like, I thought I was ready," she told PBS.
Just before the procedure began, she began to have second thoughts.
"I lay there, and I started to think, 'Well, one, I didn't tell the father that that was about to happen, and I just felt like I needed more time," Bush said.
"So, I said 'No, you know what, I'm not ready.' And the nurse just wouldn't listen to me. And I said 'No, I'm not ready.' And as I'm saying 'No,' they continue to pull the instruments and get everything ready. And it was just like 'No, calm down, No, you're going to be OK.'"
"They absolutely ignored me, even to the point of [telling Bush], 'Calm down' as if I was the problem," said Bush, even though she continued to tell the staff "No," as they performed the procedure.
Racism played a part in their response, she said.
"I was a young black woman. Multiple times I felt like it was, 'Oh, well, we know better. You don't know what you need. You don't understand. We know better.'"
Bush, who supports the codification of Roe v. Wade, also said she was grateful abortion was an option for her first pregnancy.
"I was 17 when I had to make that decision. It was the result of a rape … I don't know where I'd be right now if I ended up having the child of my rapist," she said earlier this summer.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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