The truth behind Jessa Duggar Seewald's abortion

The Duggar's, a massive family with 19 children and ultra-conservative Christian parents, were well known for their series on TLC' 19-Kids and Counting' and their extreme religious views, which of course, involve being adamantly pro-life.

Image: YouTube@jessaseewald

So fans and naysayers alike were shocked to discover that one of the older Duggar daughters, Jessa Duggar Seewald, has had an abortion.

Image: YouTube@jessaseewald

Recently in a video she shared on her YouTube channel, Jessa Duggar Seewald shared with her followers that she had suffered a "miscarriage" and that she was recovering from a "D&C."

Image: YouTube@jessaseewald

A D&C, aka a dilation and curettage, is an abortion procedure used when a dangerous, unwanted, or non-viable pregnancy occurs.

Image: Screenshot, TLC

Jessa has called this procedure a "miscarriage," and news outlets such as People Magazine have accepted Duggar's narrative.

Image: People Magazine

However, abortion-rights activists and those in the medical field have been quick to point out that a D&C is, in fact, an abortion - a procedure which the Duggar family has been very vocal about being against.

Image: Facebook@Duggar Familiy Official

In the YouTube video, Jessa Duggar Seewald tells the story: she had some spotting and became concerned and went for an ultrasound the next day to check on her baby.

Image: Instagram@jessaseewald

A medical professional told them, "the sac looks good, the baby does not," and that Jessa and her husband Ben Seewald's unborn child would not survive.

Image: YouTube@jessaseewald

Jessa went on to say, "We decided to go the hospital, get checked in there and go through the process of a D&C. It was a difficult experience."

Image: YouTube@jessaseewald

Jessa said, "Nothing could have prepared me for the weight of those words in that moment. I had really allowed myself to become so hopeful in that moment because the spotting had stopped."

Image: Instagram@jessaseewald

Duggar Seewald continued, "At that moment I was just in complete shock. I didn't even have words. I just immediately started crying."

Image: YouTube@jessaseewald

The inviability of the pregnancy meant that for her own health and well-being, Jessa, already a mother to four children, would need an abortion.

Image: Instagram@jessaseewald

Several years ago, in 2014, a newly married Jessa received a lot of flack when she compared abortions to the Holocaust on her social media platforms.

Image: Instagram@jessaseewald

The comparison was made after Jessa visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. In a post on Instagram, Duggar Seewald outright compared the systematic murder of millions of Jewish individuals to modern-day abortion.

The same year, Jessa and her family called upon Tennessee lawmakers to authorize statewide abortion restrictions.

In addition, last year Jessa Duggar Seewald and her family, who are Independent Fundamentalist Baptists, applauded the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Image: Facebook@Christian Today

Many fans and naysayers alike have many questions about Jessa's viewpoints on abortion now that the former-reality star has had one herself.

Image: Instagram@jessaseewald

In the state where Jessa Duggar Seewald resides, Arkansas, since the overturning of Roe vs Wade, deceased fetuses can be aborted.

Image: Instagram@jessaseewald

However, if the fetus is still alive, an abortion procedure such as a D&C is totally off the table, even if not having one puts the mother's life at risk.

Image: Instagram@jessaseewald

Duggar Seewald did not indicate whether the fetus she was carrying still had a heartbeat. However, if it did, she would have had to go to another state to have the procedure carried about legally.

Regardless of whether the fetus had a heartbeat or not, if the case were that it did have a heartbeat, Jessa Duggar Seewald is privileged enough that she could easily afford to travel to another state to have the procedure carried out needed. That is not the case for thousands of American women.

Image: Instagram@jessaseewald

Nevertheless, it is positive that Jessa spoke about her D&C openly. Still, it is unfortunate that she chose to hide behind the word "miscarriage" rather than being honest about the procedure being an abortion, a life-saving, necessary abortion.

Image: Instagram@jessaseewald

Undoubtedly Jessa has been through a very trying time emotionally. Losing a child is never easy for anyone. "I feel like in some ways miscarriages can be so much more jarring because you don't have clear signs of something going wrong," she said on YouTube.

Image: YouTube@jessaseewald

However, we hope that Jessa and her family are conscious of how vital equal access to the life-saving abortion procedure she received is and will re-examine their stance on abortions.

Image: Instagram@jessaseewald

Jessa has not yet spoken about if her feelings on abortion have changed. Interestingly, the same day she shared the loss of her pregnancy, Duggar Seewald did share that her views on birth control have evolved.

Image: Instagram@jessaseewald

Growing up in the religion that her parents strictly followed, birth control in any way, shape or form was prohibited. However, it seems that now Jessa has had a change of heart.

In her YouTube video, Duggar Seewald said, "We are not against birth control," adding that she and her husband, Ben believe some forms are acceptable but not oral or hormonal contraceptives. Adding, "Biblically speaking, there's no category for birth control being wrong."

Image: Instagram@jessaseewald