Doctor pens book about providing abortions later in pregnancy
Dr. Shelley Sella worked with George Tiller and shares stories about him and the patients she care for in book to be released in June.
Another doctor who performs abortions later in pregnancy has released a book detailing her experiences in the profession.
Dr. Shelley Sella will release Beyond Limits: Stories of Third-Trimester Abortion Care in June. This is the third book I’ve read from people who perform abortions later on in pregnancy. I reviewed a book by Dr. Curtis Boyd and his wife. I also interviewed Dr. Warren Hern about his book that came out.
Sella’s book takes an interesting tact in telling her story. She relays the narrative of her career and life. Those details are accompanied by vignettes of patients she’s treated, which gives people an idea of the people Sella cares for.
Sella talks about her experience of being sexually abused by her brother. She had a pregnancy scare during that time and had to go to a clinic. She wasn’t pregnant, but the experience taught her about the fear of having an unwanted child. It inspired her to become an abortion provider.
The patients described in the book have a range of experiences. Some are black. Some are white. Some identify with other genders. Some are victims of abuse. Some couldn’t tell their parents they were pregnant. Altogether, it shows the multitude of people who find themselves in a situation where they need an abortion doctor’s help.
Sella began her career as an intern at the L.A. Feminist Women’s Health Center in 1979. She described it as a vibrant and collaborative clinic.
“Whether the question was to continue or end a pregnancy, or to have sex with men or with women, the issue at stake was autonomy,” Sella wrote. “We sought the ability to take control of our lives and our bodies, regardless of societal norms and expectations.”
She performed her first abortion in 1990 at another hospital. A medical director at Planned Parenthood told her to work in as many different clinics as she could. That led her to work with Dr. George Tiller, a famous third-trimester abortion provider in Wichita. She had met him at a conference for the National Abortion Federation in 2001.
There were some fascinating details about Tiller that I hadn’t known. His father had been a doctor who had performed illegal abortions before Roe v. Wade. He initially refused to help women who came in and asked him to help like his father had. But once Roe came down, he started doing them too.
Sella’s time with Tiller didn’t coincide with 1991’s Summer of Mercy when his city was inundated with antiabortion protestors who subjected women and doctors to an unprecedented amount of harassment. She also didn’t see the first murder attempt on him that came after Shelley Shannon attacked Tiller.
Sella detailed the events leading up to Tiller’s assassination, including how media personalities had demonized him to draw in viewers through sensationalism. She provides a harrowing account of how FBI agents sought to protect her as Tiller’s murderer was on the loose.
Sella concludes the book by saying there are new paradigms through which we look at abortion. She supports reproductive justice and expanding the protections beyond those provided by Roe.
“Abortion is a medical procedure, and, like any medical procedure, it should be available to those who need it,” Sella wrote. “It should be regulated by experts in the medical field, not by the whims of politicians, legislatures or judges.”