I've seen a considerable number of people discussing how lack of accessible, safe abortion will force pregnant trans people on T off of it. That's a good conversation, and I'm glad it's happening. I now want to add another dimension to the conversation. Testosterone is not the only medication that is considered unsafe for pregnancy.
An incomplete list of medications that are not considered safe for pregnancy:
-All current stimulant medications for ADHD
-Lithium, for bipolar disorder
-Some medicines to control seizures, such as valproic acid
-ACE inhibitors, for blood pressure
-Xanax and Valium, for anxiety
-Diabetes medication other than insulin
-All pain medication except for Tylenol, which can cause liver damage if overused
Most of these medications can be approved for use during pregnancy if your doctor considers the risk of not using them higher than the risk to the fetus. However, many pregnant people are forced onto medications that do not work well for them because the medication that they use is strongly discouraged. In addition, the changing of medications can wreak havoc on if your insurance is willing to pay for what you've changed to- an additional expense on top of the usual financial burden of pregnancy care.
This is hard enough for disabled people to deal with when they are pregnant voluntarily. If abortion is criminalized, then use of medications that may cause defects or miscarriage will likely be considered criminal if there is a miscarriage. This is especially true if there is no exception for the life of the pregnant person.
This only scratches the surface of the problems that disabled people will face if abortion is made inaccessible. For this and many other reasons, maternal mortality and/or morbidity is strongly elevated for disabled people. I strongly encourage you to consider disabled people as a particularly vulnerable group in regards to this issue, and to consider our needs important.
Further reading on disabled people and pregnancy mortality or morbidity is linked below. They refer to all pregnant people as mothers and women, but the data that they have collated is still important.
"adjusted relative risk of severe maternal morbidity or death was 29% higher among women with a physical disability, 14% higher among women with a sensory disability, 57% higher among women with an intellectual/developmental disability, and 74% higher among women with 2 or more disabilities."
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