Oh Shit, I'm Pregnant

- Your Guide to Being Pregnant on the Street is a handbook produced and distributed by Streetworks health outreach program in Edmonton.  Why?

According to the estimates by the outreach workers and other organizations that help homeless women, as many as 200 are pregnant at any given time.

"And that's a conservative number," says Marliss Taylor, head of the Streetworks health outreach program. "It's a nightmare for them. They're the most scared group in the inner city. They're terrified that their babies are going to get taken away if they try to get help."

All are grindingly poor. Most are drug addicts. Many are forced to sell their bodies. Some have nowhere else to sleep but in doorways, under stairwells or in back alleys.

They're also among the least likely to reach out for help.

"Many are afraid that if they see a doctor, the police will be notified," she says. "If they have warrants, they're worried they'll go to jail. If they have mental illness or addictions, it's really hard to keep prenatal appointments. On top of that, they feel so much shame, so much pain. There are lots of reasons that they don't get the care they need."

So, where are the Womb Zombies a.k.a. abortion-criminalizing crusaders when homeless pregnant women need services, offered in a compassionate, supportive and non-judgmental way?

Oh wait. Compassionate, supportive and non-judgmental?  That’s so not The Fetus©™ fetishists' way.