I would be interested in a source on this claim, because 20% is roughly the number I’m getting from multiple reputable sources.
Regardless, pregnancy complications when the embryo is still a blastocyst isn’t something that typically represents a medical emergency, so it’s not really what anyone is talking about in regards to women being denied lifesaving medical care.
The issue comes from the fact that if there’s any amount of implantation and the very earliest stages of development, a pregnancy test will come back positive and there are many diagnostic tests (most imaging modalities) and many procedures (such as non-obstetrical emergency surgeries) that will get delayed or sometimes even denied because of the positive pregnancy test. Every AFAB that comes through an ER that might need imaging gets a point-of-care pregnancy test that has to come back negative for something like a CT scan unless it is a very dire situation because of the radiation risk to a developing embryo.
Obstetrical procedures like abortions are not the only ones that are gate-kept for AFAB patients because of the policies surrounding risks to developing embryos or fetuses.
Edit to add: The studies do say that the estimated incidence of clinically unrecognized pregnancies is approximately 20%, but given the myriad risk factors that can feed into that outcome, things like exposures, stresses, SES, and access to medical care may increase that incidence rate in some populations.
I would be interested in a source on this claim, because 20% is roughly the number I’m getting from multiple reputable sources.
Regardless, pregnancy complications when the embryo is still a blastocyst isn’t something that typically represents a medical emergency, so it’s not really what anyone is talking about in regards to women being denied lifesaving medical care.
The issue comes from the fact that if there’s any amount of implantation and the very earliest stages of development, a pregnancy test will come back positive and there are many diagnostic tests (most imaging modalities) and many procedures (such as non-obstetrical emergency surgeries) that will get delayed or sometimes even denied because of the positive pregnancy test. Every AFAB that comes through an ER that might need imaging gets a point-of-care pregnancy test that has to come back negative for something like a CT scan unless it is a very dire situation because of the radiation risk to a developing embryo.
Obstetrical procedures like abortions are not the only ones that are gate-kept for AFAB patients because of the policies surrounding risks to developing embryos or fetuses.
Edit to add: The studies do say that the estimated incidence of clinically unrecognized pregnancies is approximately 20%, but given the myriad risk factors that can feed into that outcome, things like exposures, stresses, SES, and access to medical care may increase that incidence rate in some populations.