#cheryl chastine

[cheerfullycatholic]

Cheryl Chastine, an abortionist who trained under late-term abortionist George Tiller, called 911 recently after overdosing an abortion patient on fentanyl. At American Women’s Medical Center (AWMC) in Des Plaines, Illinois, Chastine committed an abortion on a 34-year-old woman, and gave her fentanyl and midazolam in the process. Unfortunately, clinic staff had difficulty reversing the drugs, leading the woman’s respiratory status to be “pretty questionable,” according to Chastine. “She is actually coming around, starting to breathe on her own,” she said during the 911 call. “So, let me see… O2 is now at 83. We might be OK, but can I keep you on the line?” A nurse then asked Chastine if she still needed an ambulance; she responded, “I literally don’t know, because I’m waiting on my Narcan, and my, uh… uh… ” At this point, Chastine trailed off before muttering, “Oh my God.”

#live action #live action news #abortion #anti abortion #pro life #chicago #awmc #cheryl chastine

[larkandkatydid]

Here is another article about increasing access to LARC and here is a link to a podcast Sarah Kliff did on the same topic. 

One key take-away is that there’s s a lot of misinformation (or usually just out of date information) about IUDS and implants so a part of the intervention was making sure that healthcare providers knew the most up to date information on them and could talk about that information with patients. (E.g., You DO NOT have to have already had a pregnancy to get an IUD.)  The technology has changed a lot and part of the work was making sure everyone knew about that.

But this excerpt is a good summary too:

LARCs are a fantastic contraceptive, but they only work if women can actually use them. Patients have generally faced three big obstacles in obtaining IUDs and implants: cost, education, and access.

1) Implants and IUDs can cost upward of $500, whereas a generic pack of birth control pills can cost as little as $5 to $15 per month for those with insurance (or $20 to $50 for those without). Obamacare attempts to tackle this problem by requiring all insurance companies to cover LARCs at no cost to the patient.

2) There are lots of myths about LARCSs that persist among both patients and providers. These include beliefs like only women who have already had children are good candidates for IUDs (not true) or that a woman must be on her period to have the device placed (also false). I personally encountered both of these myths when I got an IUD; one doctor at a private clinic in downtown Washington refused to place the device because I'd never had a child.

3) Finally, there's access: Clinics often struggle with the logistics of providing LARCs.

The insertion process is quick – about five minutes or so from start to finish. But doctors might not have blocked out that time or have the pricey device in stock (a handful of $500 IUDs sitting on the shelf can create cash flow challenges, especially in small clinics). Many clinics will ask women to return for a second appointment.

This last obstacle, reproductive health experts say, is a huge problem. Studies show that many women will never return for that second appointment. One 2012 study of 708 Medicaid patients showed that only 54.4 percent of patients who requested an IUD showed up for the insertion appointment. Women who lived more than 10 miles from a clinic were especially likely to become no-shows.

Another study of women who intended to get IUDs after an abortion found that only 32 percent actually received the device. When those who didn't show up for the second appointment were asked why, they said that they just didn't have time for an additional visit.

Cheryl Chastine, an abortion provider in the Midwest, says she often has patients who request LARCs but doesn't have enough money to keep them in stock. So she refers her patients to outside providers.

"At least half of my patients that I've seen for a second abortion, I can see, documented in their charts, that we've discussed a long-acting, reversible method of contraception and they said they wanted it," she says. "They leave, and they have chaotic lives. So when I see them again, they'll say that they couldn't get child care to get to the doctor.

"I see many more patients back here than I would if they had actually gotten the type of contraceptive they wanted."

This is why Upstream USA isn't just focused on getting IUDs into clinics — it's also focused on creating a workflow that allows providers to insert the devices within moments of a patient's request. And that means changing how any clinic that provides birth control works.