Panel 1
(Person sitting on toilet with hand under their leg)
Panel 2
(Close up of positive pregnancy test)
Panel 3
(Person sitting on toilet looking at pregnancy test)
Person: Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.
Panel 4
(Person standing in shower)
Person: Okay. Okay. Okay.
Panel 5
(People walking on sidewalk with city skyline in background, while one person is on phone)
Person: I’d like to make an appointment with Dr. Lee.
Panel 6
(At doctor’s office, and doctor is doing an ultrasound)
Doctor: Yup, you’re pregnant! At your next appointment, we’ll check to see if there’s a heartbeat and if things are developing normally.
Panel 7
(Person sitting with their legs folded under them, next to a Mayo Clinic Book)
Person: Now I wait.
Panel 8
(Open book)
Book Text: “Miscarriage is the spontaneous loss of a pregnancy before the twentieth week. About ten to twenty percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage… Most miscarriages occur because the fetus isn’t developing normally. Miscarriage is a relatively common experience – but that doesn’t make it any easier” (Mayo Clinic).
Panel 9
(Calendar with multiple days crossed off)
Panel 10
(Person sitting on toilet looking down at underwear)
Person: Is there blood? No. Phew.
Panel 11
(Coffee mug)
Person’s Thoughts: Try to be present. It’s so scary.
Panel 12
(Person walking and talking to friend)
Person: It’s weird, I don’t really feel pregnant yet. I feel like I have a medical condition that may lead to pregnancy.
Panel 13
(Crossed fingers)
Person: Wait and hope.
Panel 14
(Person thinking)
Person: But what if I didn’t want to be pregnant?
Panel 15
(Person thinking, holding part of a spiral cord, like a telephone cord)
Person: What if I were dealing with this uncertainty not wanting to end up with a baby?
Panel 16
(Person thinking, holding part of a spiral cord, like a telephone cord)
Person: It’s hard now, but that just seems cruel.
Panel 17
(Person thinking, holding part of a spiral cord, like a telephone cord)
Person: There are so many reasons why a pregnancy might not result in a baby.
Panel 18
(Pregnant person with hands on stomach)
Person: Choice is just one of them.
Panel 19
(Person at OB/GYN office getting an ultrasound, the spiral cord connects to the ultrasound wand that the doctor is holding)
Person: And in a situation where I have so little control over the outcome, in most ways, that choice is so deeply important. Access to safe, legal abortion is a fundamental part of reproductive health – and it’s a human right.
Doctor: Can you hear that? That’s the heartbeat.
