spoonies and the harm this new roe business is causing.

It’s been a full week since the release of the ruling on Roe and it’s still fresh and we are still unraveling all of its implications. And we have a serious (and despicable) problem.

And I am furious.

Well, there are many problems with this situation – but among them is that those making these laws have the medical knowledge of someone who failed kindergarten and they have created a major access issue to a critical first line medication for those of us with rheumatoid arthritis and many other autoimmune diseases.

In their brilliance, these lawmakers have included methotrexate as a potential miscarriage causing medication – which, technically, I suppose it could be.

HOWEVER, what it IS used for:

chemotherapy
to treat ectopic pregnancy – both to save a woman’s life AND to save her fallopian tube which helps preserve her fertility
as a DMARD (disease-modifying antirheumatic drug) which is one of the first line, most effective, most commonly used drugs in MANY autoimmune diseases like RA.

Already, as a result of this, rheumatologists are having to reconsider prescribing methotrexate to their female patients of childbearing age.

I am also on Methotrexate injections and have been for years. I need my medications – my stable therapy – to WALK and to MOVE AROUND and TO USE MY HANDS.

We should not have to beg ANYONE for our damn medications.

Our lives are worth infinitely more than – in this case – imaginary pregnancies.

(Bear in mind, NO ONE is this scenario is pregnant – and autoimmune patients somehow cannot get their medications.)

I. AM. FURIOUS.

Here is an article explaining how some clinics are pulling patients off of methotrexate for fear of these laws and other patients have scripts that they can’t get pharmacies to fill:

https://www.everydayhealth.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/women-with-ra-may-have-trouble-accessing-methotrexate-due-to-abortion-restrictions/

This sort of garbage points to laws that are “prolife” – just not ours – because, yes, our medications are that serious. Triggering flares and abruptly stopping stable therapy is nothing to play with = and these politicians have no damn right to do so.

NO.