when lauren miller She was shocked and excited to find out she was pregnant with twins in the summer of 2022. However, initial tests revealed that one of the twins was not developing at the same pace as the other. He had severe abnormalities and a rare chromosomal disorder called trisomy 18.
“It was like nine doctors, several nurses, several genetic counselors, and they all said the same thing almost word for word,” Lauren said. Helen Pitt. “So this unviable twin was growing every day, putting my healthy twin and me at greater risk. And that's all they could say. That's where Texas medical care ends these days. Masu.
“It was an extreme environment filled with fear. I remember one genetic counselor who kept stopping mid-sentence. She was afraid to say the word abortion out loud.”
Lauren lives in Dallas, Texas, where abortion is illegal unless the pregnancy results in death or “significant impairment of a major bodily function.” Carter ShermanThe Guardian's US reproductive health and justice reporter explains why this exception does not necessarily reassure women seeking treatment.
“When abortion is prohibited in this country, technically abortions for medical emergencies are allowed,” she tells Helen. “But doctors say these bans are so vaguely worded that they are unenforceable, forcing patients to wait until their symptoms worsen until they feel they can legally intervene. states.”
Lauren felt she had no choice but to leave Texas.
“For us, there was really no choice,” she says. “This is because the different paths forward are either traveling out of state to have a pregnancy reduction surgery, staying in Texas and getting sicker and sicker and sicker and sicker, and eventually dying enough to have an abortion, or staying in Texas It was basically a matter of losing the pregnancy.”
Since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in June 2022, 14 states have issued abortion bans, and four states have banned abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. It has become a key issue in the election, with some states planning to vote on it as early as November.
How might the fight over reproductive rights affect elections?
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Photo: Ben Gray/AP
