Sometimes you gotta rant.
Always when they talk about an abortion ban starting at six weeks, many say “when most women don’t know they’re pregnant.”
But they never explain why. And, because many people simply don’t know how it works, they don’t understand that a pregnancy that is “six weeks” does not mean six weeks of being pregnant.
So, because we all do better when we work with truth, here’s why six weeks is not really six weeks.
We’ll start by considering a woman with a super duper regular cycle.
0 weeks A pregnancy count starts from the first day of a woman’s last period. Obviously, she’s not pregnant then, but that’s when the counting starts.
2 weeks If a woman is regular and fits the standard norms, she ovulates about two weeks later. If she has recently had sex or has sex about then, sperm and egg may meet and conception occurs.
Then, if she is completely regular, she would expect her period to start in another two weeks.
4 weeks If she is pregnant, it — if all is completely regular and textbook — that period won’t show up. She might have a symptom or two, a little fatigue, a little nausea. Symptoms that could easily be explained by something else.
Or perhaps she has no symptoms at all.
She’s really only two weeks pregnant at this point, but she’s considered “four weeks” pregnant.
6 weeks Then, only two more weeks will pass until she is officially “six weeks pregnant.” Two weeks of wondering why she’s late, if it could be due to something else, or perhaps, if she’s busy, not even noticing that she’s late.
The above really only applies to the textbook, ideal case. In other words, not that many people. Because many women have irregular periods and cycles. Some women, despite being pregnant, will still get a small period.
Why does the medical profession count this way? I assume it’s because the first day of your last period is a day that is easy to measure, to pinpoint. I don’t blame the medical profession for using it as their way of counting.
But I do blame the MSM and our educational system for not explaining why women don’t know at “six weeks”.
A big reason that forced birthers were able to get their will across is because too many people fell into the camp of ignorance. I had to explain even to my husband that medical abortions, when done properly, are about 14x safer for a woman than being pregnant and trying to give birth. Too many people did not know how this works. Because of the widespread ignorance, we got idiots talking about how the woman’s body shuts down during a “legitimate rape” and trying to legislate moving an ectopic pregnancy into the uterus (impossible).
Of course, there are other major groups. There are those who always understood what was intended by these crazy bans, and who are fighting it. There are those who always understood what was intended, and who are trying to implement it in their attempt to control women. And, I guess, there is also a group who really believe that life begins at conception, although if you’re looking to the Bible to base your decisions, a better interpretation is either when a baby takes its first breath. In other words, viability.
We have allowed the facts about sex and pregnancy to be hidden for too long. When people don’t know the truth, they are easier to manipulate.
Some truths have been coming out. The MSM has given airtime to some of the pregnancies due to rapes. They have also talked about some of the complications, and how women’s health and fertility and even their lives are at stake due to these draconian laws. People are learning more about the great number of pregnancies that simply end in miscarriages.
But I have not seen the MSM address this basic counting issue, why six weeks is not six weeks, and why women really may not know they are pregnant at this point.
🐦 I do a lot of other writing. A recent offering: the Crow Nickels (chronicles), a trilogy about crows who want to save birdkind from extinction: Hunters of the Feather, Scavengers of Mind and Familiars of the Flock (They’re really good! They’re really cheap! Buy and review or rate positively! And Hunters is also available on Audible!) Other stories, based on Jane Austen novels — such as The Meryton Murders — and others based on history and Greek mythology, such as Jocasta: The Mother-Wife of Oedipus, can be found here. All titles are available through Kindle Unlimited, but I only get paid if you turn the pages.