‘Our hearts hurt’: Men impacted by abortion restrictions share their stories

ABC News interviewed 18 women who say their medical care was impacted by bans.

By Nadine El-Bawab, Christina Ng, and Tess Scott
December 23, 2023

ABC News brought together 18 women from across 10 states who say their medical care was impacted by abortion bans -- bringing some of them to the brink. These women said they have been turned away in medical emergencies for not being sick enough and had their health care delayed or denied due to state laws.

The women were not alone. Their partners walked alongside them on the journey, and together they faced the life-changing fallout from abortion bans in their home states. This story details these men’s experiences -- in their own words.

Stephen Anaya was thrilled when he heard the news that his wife Kristen was pregnant with a girl. The two had been trying to have a baby for more than two years, and both had medical procedures to help make their dream a reality.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/US/hearts-hurt-men-impacted-abortion-restrictions-share-stories/story?id=105869733

Meet 18 women who shared heartbreaking pregnancy journeys in post-Roe world

On the Brink: Women detail impact of abortion restrictions on their health care.

By Nadine El-Bawab, Tess Scott, Christina Ng, and Acacia Nunes
December 16, 2023

…In a monthslong investigation, 18 women from across 10 states shared their deeply personal stories, chronicling their heartbreaking journeys and how, in some cases, they were brought to the brink of death because they couldn't access timely care in their home states.

The women appeared in a companion broadcast, "Impact by Nightline: On the Brink," with exclusive interviews by Diane Sawyer and Rachel Scott, which looks at the hidden health care crisis playing out in clinics and exam rooms across the country. So many families posing the question: is this what lawmakers intended? "On the Brink" premieres Dec. 14 on Hulu.

These are their stories.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/US/meet-18-women-shared-heartbreaking-pregnancy-journeys-post/story?id=105563366

Byron Calhoun says abortion is never necessary to save a mother’s life. He’s the only high-risk OB/GYN in central West Virginia.

By Caroline Kitchener
Sept. 10, 2021

At a 2019 antiabortion conference in Ontario, Canada, Byron Calhoun was introduced as a “messenger of God.”

The doctor assumed the podium in a pinstripe suit and bow tie, his high forehead glinting underneath the hotel ballroom’s bright fluorescents. Dozens of conference-goers clapped, then grew quiet, eyes fixed on Calhoun and the statistic that brought them all there, blown up on a banner behind him: “1 out of every 5 babies is killed by abortion.”

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2021/the-lily/antiabortion-doctor-obgyn-care/

10.09.2021

American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

Charleston Area Medical Center

Christian Medical Fellowship

Family Policy Council

National Institute of Family and Life Advocates

perinatal hospice

polycystic kidney disease

state medical boards

Steve Calvin

Women’s Health Center

Sinn Fein proposes tightening NI abortion legislation over non-fatal disability

SF proposes tightening NI abortion legislation over non-fatal disability
Alliance for Choice says SF move would mean still having to travel for terminations for foetal anomaly diagnoses

Sun, May 31, 2020
Gerry Moriarty

Sinn Féin has indicated a willingness to see some alteration of the new abortion legislation for Northern Ireland that was enacted at Westminster and came into effect at the end of March.

The party has tabled an amendment to a DUP motion on abortion, some of which relates to Down syndrome, that is to be debated in the Northern Assembly on Tuesday.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/sf-proposes-tightening-ni-abortion-legislation-over-non-fatal-disability-1.4267082

USA – How Down Syndrome Became a New Front in the Abortion Wars

How Down Syndrome Became a New Front in the Abortion Wars
Families are being caught in the crossfire as states enact laws to ban Down syndrome-related abortions.

by Carter Sherman and Dan Ming
Feb 11 2020 (12 minute video)

When Ben and Marissa O’Donnell found out that their child would be born with Down syndrome, both of them knew that abortion was an option.

“In a moment like that, you go through mentally many dark hallways,” said Marissa O’Donnell, who lives in suburban Massachusetts about an hour outside Boston. “I didn't get so far down that hallway to a place of — where I felt like I didn't think that we could handle it. But I did sort of fall into a deep place of feeling like my life would be so different.”

Continued: https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/y3mbvj/how-down-syndrome-became-a-new-front-in-the-abortion-wars

11.02.2020

anti-choice restrictions

Why An Abortion Was The Right Choice For Me: 5 Women Share Their Story

Why An Abortion Was The Right Choice For Me: 5 Women Share Their Story
Vogue speaks to five women around the world – from Northern Ireland to Bolivia – who share their deeply personal experiences of abortion, and explain why they believe the choice is a fundamental human right.

By Emily Chan
Friday 5 July 2019

When Alabama passed its anti-abortion law in May – 46 years after abortion was first legalised in the US, in 1973 – it sparked international outcry. The ban, which prevents abortion in nearly all cases, led to thousands of women sharing their abortion experiences on social media, using #YouKnowMe, a campaign launched by American actress Busy Philipps. “One in four women will have an abortion before age 45,” said Philipps on her late-night show. “Maybe you’re sitting there thinking, ‘I don’t know a woman who would have an abortion.’ Well, you know me.”

As Philipps highlights, this is a subject relevant to us all; regardless of age, geography or socio-economic context. Crucially, a woman's fundamental right to choose is under attack, as pockets of political discourse seek to control women’s bodies and reproductive rights.

Continued: https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/women-share-their-personal-abortion-stories

USA – I Shouldn’t Be Forced to Give Birth to a Baby Who Won’t Live

I Shouldn’t Be Forced to Give Birth to a Baby Who Won’t Live
Our baby had a fatal birth defect. My federal health insurance plan refused to cover the abortion.

By Sarah E. Levin
July 3, 2019

When I was 20 weeks pregnant, I and my husband learned during a routine ultrasound that our baby had not developed a major portion of her brain and never would. The condition, anencephaly, a type of neural tube defect that also stunts the growth of the skull, is terminal. If carried to term, our baby would be very unlikely to survive for more than a few hours.

One in 1,000 fetuses have this condition. We had no warning signs. No indications. No idea this was coming. This was a baby we had planned for. Just three weeks earlier we had told our 5-year-old daughter that she would soon have a baby sister. We returned home from the hospital that day and had to tell her that her sister was not coming any more. It was the first time she saw me sobbing, unable to speak.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/03/opinion/abortion-hyde-amendment.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

03.07.2019

USA – The Hidden Consequences of the New Abortion Laws

The Hidden Consequences of the New Abortion Laws
They will force women to carry pregnancies to term despite the detection of painful and deadly fetal anomalies.

By Jennifer Senior, Opinion columnist
May 29, 2019

Recent state-imposed limits on abortion — from Georgia to Missouri, from Ohio to Mississippi — are rightly seen as a broadside aimed at women’s reproductive freedoms. But it is also worth examining a more particular, and potentially agonizing, consequence of these new restrictions. It is a hard one to talk about. It is, to some extent, taboo. But it must be discussed.

Namely: These new laws, should they survive judicial scrutiny, would ensure that a generation of women would be forced to carry pregnancies to term despite the detection of fetal anomalies — some of them cruel, painful and fatal.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/opinion/abortion-birth-defects.html

USA – My second and third daughters exist because abortion was legal and safe

My second and third daughters exist because abortion was legal and safe
I would not have risked another child with severe fetal defects, as my beloved first daughter had.

By Jana von Stein
May 28, 2019

Many parents-to-be learn at their 20-week ultrasound whether it’s a boy or a girl. We learned that our baby had severe cardiac defects. As my pregnancy progressed, it became more evident that her disorder affected more than just her heart. It would require multiple operations and might be life-defining. In the 23 months she lived, my daughter Sophie endured seven surgeries, became addicted to morphine and Ativan, and suffered more than most people do in decades’-longer lifetimes. Her dad and I tried, along with heroic nurses and doctors in Michigan, Boston and Stanford, to save her life. We failed. We worked tirelessly to give her a good quality of life, but — particularly in the last few months — it was not one worth living.

The doctors weren’t sure whether Sophie’s defects were a result of random bad luck or something hereditary. Her DNA looked normal, but it was clear there was a programming error at some point early in the gestation.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/05/28/my-second-third-daughters-exist-because-abortion-was-legal-safe/?utm_term=.c86f14544923

28.05.2019

congenital abnormalities

fatal foetal abnormality

fetal anomaly

women's abortion stories

India: Denied abortion after foetus found abnormal, woman says: I wish my baby dies after birth

Denied abortion after foetus found abnormal, woman says: I wish my baby dies after birth

A diagnostic test revealed that the foetus suffered from a birth anomaly called Arnold Chiari Type II syndrome — an underdeveloped brain and a distorted spine

Written by Tabassum Barnagarwala | Mumbai | Updated: March 29, 2017

“What’s the use of diagnostic facilities if we can’t find a solution after diagnosing a defect in the foetus?” asks Dr Nikhil Datar, gynaecologist who counselled the woman.

When she found out last September that she was pregnant, the 28-year-old Mumbai resident was excited, and she quit her job in a private company’s administration department to “solely focus” on her baby. For three years, her husband, a 31-year-old HR manager, had planned for this day.

“Now I wish my baby dies after birth,” she says, her eyes swollen with tears and lack of sleep.

Continued at source: Indian Express: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/denied-abortion-after-foetus-found-abnormal-woman-says-i-wish-my-baby-dies-after-birth-4590054/

29.03.2017