Another woman has come forward with the harrowing details of how the Supreme Court’s decision four months ago to overturn Roe v. Wade put her life in danger.
CNN has told the stories of several women – including one from Houston, one from central Texas and one from Cleveland – and what they had to do to obtain medically necessary abortions.
Now, a woman from Austin, Texas, has come forward because she nearly died when she couldn’t get a timely abortion.
This is her story.
The loss of a ‘miracle’ baby
Amanda Eid and Josh Zurawski, both now 35, met in 1991 at Aldersgate Academy preschool in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and dated in high school.
“Josh always tells me he’s been in love with me since we were 4 years old,” Amanda said.
Three years ago, they married in Austin, Texas, where they both work in high-tech jobs.
They tried to have a family but failed. Amanda had fertility treatments for a year and a half and finally became pregnant.
“Very excited to share that Baby Zurawski is expected in late January,” Amanda shared on Instagram in July. The post included a picture of her and her husband in “Mama” and “Dad” hats, Amanda holding a strip of ultrasound photos of their baby girl.
“The fact that we were pregnant at all was a miracle, and we were beside ourselves with happiness,” she said.
But then, 18 weeks – just four months – into her pregnancy, Amanda’s water broke.
The amniotic fluid that her baby depended upon was leaking out. She says her doctor told her the baby would not survive.
“We found out that we were going to lose our baby,” Amanda said. “My cervix was dilating fully 22 weeks prematurely, and I was inevitably going to miscarry.”
She and Josh begged the doctor to see if there was any way to save the baby.
“I just kept asking, ‘isn’t there anything we can do?’ And the answer was ‘no,’ ” Amanda said.
Texas anti-abortion laws
When a woman’s water breaks, she’s at high risk for a life-threatening infection. While Amanda and Josh’s baby – they named her Willow – was sure to die, she still had a heartbeat, and so doctors said that under Texas law, they were unable to terminate the pregnancy.