Town Hall Seattle Science Series

For 20 years, Dr. Shelley Sella saw patients whose diverse backgrounds and circumstances led them to the same difficult decision: to end their pregnancies. In her new book, Beyond Limits, Sella draws from her experiences to offer a window into a typical week at her clinic, weaving together patient stories—including those of a mother navigating a devastating prenatal diagnosis, a woman confronting unexpected test results after IVF, and a parent weighing safety and stability for her existing children. Dr. Sella offers a testament to a standard of care grounded in competence, compassion, and sensitivity, as well as a call for a paradigm shift that moves beyond Dobbs, beyond Roe, beyond limits to provide care. It is a tribute to the real people whose hearts, reasons, and stories are more complex than politicized conversations about abortion lead us to believe. Dr. Shelley Sella is a board-certified OB-GYN and the first woman to openly practice third-trimester abortion care in the US, which she did for 20 years.