The abortion-leaning news outlets have committed media malpractice by erroneously claiming that pro-life laws prevent doctors from treating miscarriages. This is blatantly false, considering that doctors who refuse to treat miscarriages commit medical malpractice and face serious legal consequences.

READ MORE: Chrissy Teigen Joins the Media’s Manipulation of Conflating Abortion and Miscarriage 

While Students for Life of America (SFLA) sees it as our responsibility to confront the media on its conflation of miscarriage and abortion, we’d reminisce not to mention the specific resources and help offered to women who are or have suffered the tragedy of a miscarriage. MedicinePlus thoroughly defines miscarriages as “The spontaneous loss of a fetus before the 20th week of pregnancy. Pregnancy losses after the 20th week are called stillbirths. Miscarriage is a naturally occurring event, unlike medication abortions or abortion procedures.” (emphasis added)  

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Sadly, miscarriages are all too familiar, with 10-25% of pregnancies ending in miscarriage, and the number is likely much higher due to early, unrecognized miscarriages. The psychological aftermath can be devastating and challenging. The National Institute for Health and Care Research reported that “Almost one in three women develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after early pregnancy loss, a new study shows. For some, signs of PTSD, anxiety, and depression are still evident nine months later.” 

Additional research from the Psychological Impact of Early Pregnancy Events study suggests that compared to those with healthy pregnancies, one in three women with early pregnancy loss had PTSD, one in four had anxieties, and one in 10 experienced depression. Nine months after an early miscarriage, one in five experienced PTSD, one in six had anxiety, and one in 20 had depression. 

Any woman who’s made it to the other side of this painful experience knows how vital community support, healthy grieving, and resources are to proper healing. Women deserve the truth and help, not the lies and fearmongering the abortion media offers.  

SFLA’s Standing With You (SWY) is meant to offer national and local support for women who have chosen life, suffered a miscarriage, or had a regretful abortion. Look at some of SWY’s resources that you or someone you know can benefit from TODAY.  

LEARN MORE: Reproductive Grief 

Know Your Miscarriage Rights  

Going through a miscarriage is not only emotionally painful, but it can make navigating life’s immediate demands challenging. Women must know their rights when they experience a miscarriage. Title IX requires schools to allow women to take time off, signed off by a medical professional, for miscarriages with no discrimination, exclusion, or harassment. Additionally, Elizabeth Ministry International created a rights list re-posted by SWY, with a few stated below:  

• You have the right to another ultrasound to confirm beyond any doubt that your baby has passed. 
• You have the right to request a copy of the picture. 
• You have the right to a funeral for your baby. 
• You have the right to bury your baby. If the baby’s body passes in the hospital or the remains removed via a D&C, you have the right to your baby’s remains. Be aware that in some states, there may be laws governing how his or her body is released. 

Perinatal Hospice: A Compassionate and Caring Option 

Miscarriage doesn’t mean that there’s no dignity for a preborn child. Perinatal hospice is a compassionate and caring option for families looking to honor and grieve for their child’s life. Former SFLA Lead Operations Supervisor and Medical/Law Coordinator Gavin Oxley wrote the following on the importance and function of perinatal hospice:  

“[P]erinatal palliative care programs allow parents to meet their child and to fully grieve their loss. This care is fully encompassing, providing a compassionate explanation of the diagnosis, walking the parents through the emotionally strenuous pregnancy process, and counseling the parents through the grieving processes beyond the loss of the child.”    

READ MORE: Perinatal Hospice Is the Compassionate Choice for Parents & Child 

The Perinatal Hospice and Palliative Care website has a database of perinatal hospices in every state and internationally, making it easier for mothers and fathers to get the care and arrangements they need.  

Watch SFLA President Kristan Hawkins address the topic below.  

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Miscarriage Books, Ministries, and Resources 

Thanks to the rise of digital connectivity, additional resources like comfort kits, devotions, online support, or support finders exist. Check out the following below:  

• Through the Heart (SWY recommended)  
• Loved Baby (SWY recommended) 
• Focus on the Family Resources 
• M.E.N.D. (Mommies Enduring Neonatal Death) 
• Umbrella Ministries 
• SHARE 

Whether it’s a miscarriage, unplanned pregnancy, or regretful abortion, no woman should stand alone. Instead of instilling fear, the pro-life movement wants to offer comfort and encouragement as a counternarrative to the media’s miscarriage misinformation.  

READ NEXT: Before Sally Field Played Beloved Aunt May in Spiderman, She Was a Post-Abortive Mother