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Interviews /
Real Stories +
Experiences

bans off our bodies
my body my choice
abortion is healthcare
bans off our bodies
my body my choice
abortion is healthcare
INTERVIEWS –
STORIES –

Adriana is a shareholder at Gonzalez & Cartwright, P. A. where she not only works on behalf of injury victims, but also devotes a substantial amount of time to community service. She is a past President of the Palm Beach County Hispanic Bar Association. She serves on the Board of the Hispanic Education Coalition, the Board of the Florida Justice Association Women’s Caucus, the Board of the Palm Beach County Justice Association, the 15th Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee, and the Palm Beach Coalition for Immigrant Rights.

She is also active in politics: she served as a Delegate to the Democratic National Convention and has overseen voter protection and expansion efforts in Palm Beach County in the last three elections.

PV

Attorney Adriana Gonzalez's Take on
The Overturning of Roe v. Wade:

Q. Roe v. Wade has been overturned. What is your opinion on what will happen now?

A. It’s a barbaric regression in the progress we’ve made towards equality.  States with legislatures controlled by republicans will push the overturning of Roe v. Wade to an unfathomable, dangerous extreme. The states with legislatures controlled by democrats will, in all likelihood, attempt to become safe havens for individuals seeking to terminate a pregnancy; however, this will only highlight the impact that our socio-economic status has on our personal ability to exercise what should be an individual’s fundamental right, the one to make medical decisions over our own body. In allowing individual states to restrict an individual’s right to choose beyond the protections that were guaranteed by Roe v. Wade, we will be creating a different set of rights for those individuals with the means to seek care out-of-state versus those who cannot, placing the burden of an unjust system on those who can least afford to bear it.

Q. Who do you feel will be most impacted by this decision?  

A. Those individuals with the least amount of resources and who are the most vulnerable will be most affected.  Individuals living in poverty, who are underage, and / or  who have been the victims of sexual abuse.  As a result, we will see horrific repercussions. Individuals denied access to care will be forced to give birth to children they cannot afford or that they are unable to take care of in the circumstances that they find themselves in.  We will see individuals who will either attempt to terminate their pregnancy by resorting to dangerous methods or be forced to use these dangerous methods by the same abusers who caused the unwanted pregnancy.  Overall, we will see a rise in poverty and crime as history has shown us.  

Q. Are you concerned about the fate of other rights that are not explicitly outlined in the Constitution, including the right to access contraception? Do you think this is a real possibility, and what would this mean for our society?

A. Basing the overturning of Roe v. Wade on this idea that in order for a right to be protected it must be deeply rooted in our nation’s history is a very dangerous legal reasoning that puts all other rights, especially those advancing equality, at risk of being challenged.

Q. What are your thoughts on states that are seeking to prosecute those who seek, provide or support abortions?

A. It really is a nightmare situation and the negative impacts are just too many to be adequately discussed.  Just think about how the evidence to prosecute these cases will be gathered and the extent that prosecutors will have to go.  Entire healthcare systems will be affected when doctors refuse to provide care in fear that they will be prosecuted or leave the state to practice elsewhere.  The negative impact is really endless and completely frightening to think about.  But one thing that should be clear is that no one will be spared from the negative consequences that this will cause.  

Q. How are law firms getting involved in abortion rights?

A. In addition to naturally being aligned with those who advance social causes, I’ve seen law firms get involved in different ways from either representing individuals who are seeking to get an abortion but have get around legal restrictions like parental notification or some other hurdle, or by actually challenging the pieces of legislation, usually by working with advocacy organizations.

Q. Is there anything else you’d like to share on the topic?

A. I commend all of the individuals  who have openly shared their stories the same way I commend the individuals who have chosen to keep theirs private.  To terminate a pregnancy is a very personal decision and that ability to make that decision should be protected under the individual right to privacy, and so while I won’t be sharing any specific personal story, I will say that if an individual has ever taken a contraceptive, received medical care for a miscarriage, relied on fertility treatments in order to get pregnant, etc., that individual has exercised the very same rights that will now be denied to those seeking to terminate a pregnancy - the right to privacy, the right to make personal decisions about one’s own health. 

We too often think of a less deserving individual who perhaps was careless in getting pregnant when thinking about whether someone should have the right to have an abortion, instead of thinking about how we have made these decisions ourselves based on those exact rights and how our lives would be impacted had we been denied those rights and not been able to make decisions we made.  We need to stop looking at the issue through judgmental eyes, and really take an honest look at the decisions we’ve had to make personally. 

Adriana is a shareholder at Gonzalez & Cartwright, P. A. where she not only works on behalf of injury victims, but also devotes a substantial amount of time to community service. She is a past President of the Palm Beach County Hispanic Bar Association. She serves on the Board of the Hispanic Education Coalition, the Board of the Florida Justice Association Women’s Caucus, the Board of the Palm Beach County Justice Association, the 15th Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee, and the Palm Beach Coalition for Immigrant Rights.

She is also active in politics: she served as a Delegate to the Democratic National Convention and has overseen voter protection and expansion efforts in Palm Beach County in the last three elections.

High School
Sweethearts

ANONYMOUS

"I got pregnant my senior year of high school. My now husband and I were high school sweethearts, but we knew we were not ready to be parents at 17. I opted for an abortion, which was a very difficult decision considering I always dreamt of a large family. But with college scholarships on the line, we knew the right decision was to terminate the pregnancy so we could get an education and be able to provide for our future family.

We went on to have four wonderful children when we were ready. I am so grateful for the world we lived in at that time, and having the resources we did. Our lives would be drastically different if it were not for abortion rights."

Children Raising
Children

ANONYMOUS

"I was raped when I was 16 years old, by a friend of my family. I was scared, physically hurt, terrified to tell my parents and ANGRY. I was just a child myself, how could I raise a child if I WAS a child. Luckily I had access to an abortion clinic in my state, and I was able terminate my FORCED pregnancy.

I don't know where I would be right now or how my life would have turned out if I didn't have access to what I feel IS and should always be basic female healthcare."

Ectopic
Pregnancy

ANONYMOUS

"I always wanted to have children. I was thrilled when I found out I was pregnant after two miscarriages earlier in my life.

When I became pregnant for the third time, I knew something was wrong. I was experiencing terrible pelvic pain. I went to an Urgent Care and was told that I had an ectopic pregnancy. I had no idea what the was, so the doctor explained that it is when a fertilized egg grows outside of the uterus.

This is considered a failed fetus, since it can't survive outside of the uterus, and it was also dangerous and life-threatening for me. I had to undergo a procedure to save my life.

We now live in a world where ectopic pregnancy procedures are banned in many states. The Supreme Court  would rather a woman die, than perform a life saving procedure. It is sad and unethical. FUCK THEM."

Failed
Vasectomy

ANONYMOUS

"My husband was blessed with two children from a previous marriage. I never wanted children of my own, and was happy to help raise his children.

I ALWAYS knew I didn't want children.

I wanted to get my tubes tied, but the doctor said I might change my mind, and that I was still too young to make such a permanent decision. So my husband decided to get a vasectomy. Well, his vasectomy wasn't successful, which we found out later, when I ended up pregnant.

There are a lot of mental health issues that run in my family, many of them are very serious. Not only would I never want to pass that on to a child, but I would never be in the right headspace to be pregnant."